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The tiny Caribbean nation struggles to take advantage of favorable US trade laws to regain its competitive edge in the textile industry. MINUSTAH
STORY: HAITI / U.S. TRADE LAWS
TRT : 3.33
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CREOLE / NATS
DATELINE: 27 OCTOBER 2009, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
1. Wide shot, GMC textile factory floor in Port-au-Prince
2. Med shot, female textile worker
3. Pan left, workers sorting fabrics
4. Zoom out, Clifford Apaid (General Manager) walking through GMC factory
5. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Clifford APAID, General Manager for GMC Corporation:
“In the first place it will create employment. We need that. Eventually, it will permit the development of infrastructure. It will create high-skilled jobs. Quality of life could also improve in Haiti, because it will create wealth amongst consumers – like in developed countries.”
6. Med shot, workers sorting a large pile of t-shirts
7. Tracking shot, thread on a sewing machine
8. Wide shot, female workers sorting cloth
9. Tracking shot, sewing cloth strips
10. Med shot, workers sewing cloth
11. Med shot, female worker sorting t-shirts
12. Wide shot, exterior of CHF offices in Port-au-Prince
13. Close up, CHF sign
14. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Patrice GAETAN, Program Manager, CHF-KATA:
“Haiti has an advantage in terms of its proximity to the US. Its salaries are also competitive compared to Latin America and the world.”
15. Wide shot, offloading at the port of Miragoane
16. Med shot, workers offloading cargo in Miragoane port
17. Med shot, electric tower
18. Wide shot, electric towers along Haitian hillsides
19. Pan right, truck traveling over new roads
FILE – 1 OCTOBER 2009, HAITI
20. Med shot, UN Special Envoy Bill Clinton standing with Haitian President Rene Preval and former Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis
21. Med shot, foreign investors who travelled with Clinton to Haiti
22. Wide shot, Clinton on stage with President Preval
27 OCTOBER 2009, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
23. Tracking shot, hands sewing cloth
24. Med shot, t-shirt assembly line in GMC factory
25. Med shot, woman sewing at a machine
26. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Clifford APAID, General Manager for GMC Corporation:
“We are optimistic about HOPE II. Not just for the jobs creation aspect; But also because it will increase investor confidence in Haiti in general. It may also help us minimize the country’s bad reputation abroad.”
27. Zoom out, factory floor of GMC corporation
The textile industry in Haiti has something to be hopeful about. Trade laws passed by US Congress in 2008 known as “HOPE II” are giving garment makers tax-free imports into American markets.
Textiles are a fast growing industry in Haiti, employing nearly 10 percent of the nation’s formal work force. At GMC factory, 2500 employees assemble t-shirts for companies like Walmart at twice the minimum wage. GMC General Manager Clifford A paid says HOPE II could change business for the better.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Clifford APAID, General Manager for GMC Corporation:
“In the first place it will create employment. We need that. Eventually, it will permit the development of infrastructure. It will create high-skilled jobs. Quality of life could also improve in Haiti, because it will create wealth amongst consumers – like in developed countries.”
The HOPE II trade preferences are valid until 2018 and could create up to 25,000 jobs. The goal is to help Haiti develop a competitive edge on the world market.
Fabrics are bought cheaply from countries like China, and assembled into a finish product in Haiti. Goods are exported to the US without paying tariffs– which saves Haitian companies up to 30 percent of their costs. HOPE II also includes provisions to promote fair labor standards and workers rights inside the factory.
The industry is getting help from USAID through the NGO CHF-KATA. CHF is developing a training center for textile workers.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Patrice GAETAN, Program Manager, CHF-KATA:
“Haiti has an advantage in terms of its proximity to the US. Its salaries are also competitive compared to Latin America and the world.”
But obstacles remain. Experts say the management of ports needs improvement to increase the flow of goods outside the country. Electricity in Haiti is significantly more expensive than in neighboring countries, which discourages foreign investment. And road infrastructure to connect cities to the ports also needs vast improvement.
But analysts are optimistic for Haiti’s potential. In October 2009, former US president and UN Special Envoy Bill Clinton brought 200 foreign investors to Haiti – a move which could provoke a new wave of development.
The challenge now is for public and private sectors to work together, to overcome infrastructural obstacles and take advantage of duty-free trade with the US while it lasts.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Clifford APAID, General Administrator for GMC:
“We are optimistic about HOPE II. Not just for the jobs creation aspect. But also because it will increase investor confidence in Haiti in general. It may also help us minimize the country’s bad reputation abroad.”
With help from HOPE II, Haiti could regain its competitive edge in textiles, sustain long-term economic growth, and raise the quality of life for Haiti’s working class.
