Let's start with the basics!!

[Frantz*]

The question was: "How to invest in haiti? "Hum! Am I missing something here? No. I am not! It is real. I don't have a clue!

Let me try it in a different way:

a) In what to invest in Haiti?
b) What are the opportunities?
c) What are the benefits?
d) Will it be profitable?
e) What are the risks?
f) Do I need a financial advisor?
g) How much do I really need to invest?
h) Will it make sense to engage in an educational program which aim should be to inform and protect our "new" business structure from political turbulences?

Help anyone!

Regards,
Padel

[HenriD]

Hi Padel,

In response to your questions below:
(I am assumiming you mean things which provide a decent return, are somewhat risk averse and benefit the community)

a) In what to invest in Haiti?
That is a personal decision but as a rule decent housing at a decent price is both a need and opportunity. There are a multitude of ways to do that with differing levels of risk. As in all things there is a way to do it and a way not to do it. We are nowhere near meeting the housing needs of our citizens. I do not refer here to massive investments in gated communities for the well-off and middle class. I mean low-income housing. By focusing on housing and micro-communities (Lakou) type housing communities there are significant opportunities to both make a return and improve people's lives. But like I said the opportunities for making a decent return while doing good are significant in Haiti. Our solutions unfortunately to date are oft
en designed in culturally insensitive programs, using housing development models from elsewhere rather than identify what we need and like and building in accord with that. If I had to choose in the top ten, this would be in the top ten.

b) What are the opportunities?
Massive and diverse. If we did not spend all our time destroying and scaring investors we might look a bit more like Jamaica. Fear is the poison blocking investment. The opportunities are limitless in each and every sector from forestry, to agriculture, to construction, power generation. There are opportunities for people with 500 dollars to opportunities for people with 500 million dollars. The primary constraint is in fact the nature of our social organization. That scares investors. If someone with 500 dollars wants to invest and does not know how, he can at the very least deposit some of his money in Haitian banks because then it is recycled into the local economy. If nothing else, massive influx of those 500 dollar deposits trans
lates into two things: The dollar gets cheaper, the interest rates drop. Please deposit your money any place other than PromoBank. Why, so I assure averyone understands this is not a commercial for PromoBank where I am treasurer.

c) What are the benefits?
The benefits of investing in Haiti are that generally higher risks generate higher returns. For people who know Haiti and know what they are doing the risk is not as great as it seems. What is required above all in Haiti in investing is
1) not to place all your eggs in one basket
2) never invest in one thing more than you can comfortably afford to lose compeletely
What that means is if you make 50,000 a year, you want to avoid investing more than 10% of your income in any one thing unless it is your personal business.

d) Will it be profitable?
Of course it can be. There are a lot of folks working and earning a living here and investing profitably here.

e) What are the risks?
The risks are substantial and so are the
potential rewards. There are a number of sectors in which investing is relatively risk free. Before you invest in anything here, you do need a better idea of the lay of the land than you need elsewhere.

f) Do I need a financial advisor?
Most definitely, unless you live here and know it well. I would never recommend someone invest in Haiti without several in fact.

g) How much do I really need to invest?
If you live overseas, and want to wet your feet invest 2.5-5% of your after tax yearly income. If you know more or less what you are doing, you could bring it up later to 5-7.5%. I would never personnally recommend a passive investor get into anything in Haiti for more than 10% of their income unless they have some level of knowledge and experience. That is all personal advice and has nothing to do with PromoCapital. It is in fact much more complex to answer but that can give you a basic starting point.

h) Will it make sense to engage in an educational program which aim should be
to inform and protect our "new" business structure from political turbulences?
Most definitely but good luck, people are so anti-profit here you are assumed guilty and dealt with as such from the outset. The politicians are so irresponsible and destructive they could not care less. Your best bet is to be smart and stay on your toes. Education means people listening and learning from each other. We seem to have a problem with that so the solution to your question above lies more in the design it right aspect of things than in the defend it right aspect of things.

Those are all off the cuff answers which are general. And different people will answer them in different ways. Those questions need to be addressed seriously and in depth and I hope we will continue to do so here.

Henri

[Frantz*]

Hi Henri,
Thank you for your candid answers. I am sure lots of readers are getting excited and simply would want a little more information. This never happened before and I would like to take this opportunity (if I may) to move on with the dialogue. It's my hope that others won't be so shy to enter this forum and participate.

You gave some real and tangible answers in "What to invest in Haiti?" You hit the nail on the head with the $500.

Wow! Let's get down and let's simulate some questions/examples. OK!

- Joseph lives in NY for the past 10 years, has never been to Haiti but keeps close ties via Haitian media. He can afford to invest $500 and up to $2,000 but wasn't so sure how. He is not well versed in the financial services area. However, he read your post but wanted to know the following:

1- Does he have to travel to Haiti to open a savings account?

2- What did you mean by:
a) "the dollar gets
cheaper" ?
b) "the interest rate drops" ?

3- What do you mean by "the money will be recycled in the local economy?"

4- Will the $500 help the country in the short and long run? If so how?

Wow! Joseph has more questions: Hold it Joe! Time is running out for me. Ok Henri, I am done for now..

Thanks,
padel

[Serge Bellegarde*]

Gentlemen,

These are extremely interesting discussions and I am sure many will be following and reading closely.

I know that Henri already has some questions posed to him by Padel, but I have some questions that are more long term and hopefully can be answered after Padel's.

I do not know if what I am asking is feasible or if the documentation exists at Promocapital, or even if it would make sense. But Henri I would like to know whether Promocapital has prepared or could consider preparing some kind of a guide indicating the areas where investment in Haiti is not only feasible, but required or recommended. You see, as you suggest, there are so many areas to invest in the country and to me, Haiti is a country which has to be "remade", "reconstructed". I have always thought that because so much has to be redone, you just cannot miss, as long as everything is done within a framework of more modern, adequate and flexible
laws; of functioning institutions with forward vision. Promocapital seems to be aiming at this objective. So it seems to be that a lot of us in the diaspora would greatly benefit from such a guide prepared by expert people.

This guide could contain such information as investments in areas with strong social components, locations in the country where a particular investment would be more useful; what would be needed, what is available in a given area, a projected margin of profit if possible, what kind of social benefits for the population, a projection of job creation, how much would be needed in terms of investments etc etc. There probably exists a Guide to Investment in Haiti, but is there a need to update it and would it be the same thing as what I am suggesting?

I realize such a project would require a lot of manpower and studies, but does it make sense? Is it feasible? Am I asking for the moon? If not, how do you see that could be done?

Hope to read you soon.

Ser
ge

[HenriD]

Hi Serge,

If such a guide did exist
1) it would cost about 100 thousand to do properly
2) it would be out of date 6 months after it was writen

Investing is a dynamic and it is always specific.

As such anything that is static or general in nature has little value.

So the answer is no, a document like you describe does not exist in PromoCapital or elsewhere in the form you describe, what Exists in PromoCapital or any investment related organization is full time research and decision making on those issues.

Part of what we are supposed to do for our clients is identify those opportunities as they present themselves.

There are general areas which are stronger and offer more potential and safety than others as a rule, but that does mean everything that fits those specs is worth doing. Housing is one of those. It is somewhat of a no brainer, and unlimited. However doing it right is not a no brainer. It ta
kes lots of brains.

We have areas of focus in PromoCapital because we have determined those are most promising in double bottom line terms.

In any case I have to go now but will be back with more info.

Henri

[Serge Bellegarde*]

Henri,

Thanks very much for the reply. I take note also of the areas of focus of Promocapital and the guidance available. At least, a potential investor will have an idea of where he or she is going. I will follow closely the discussion on all those issues.

Serge