 |
| Pamela Cox |
March 12, 2005—Visiting Haiti this week, Pamela Cox, World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, opened the World Bank’s new office in Port au Prince. This was the first visit of a Bank VP in a decade.
“The Bank is committed to supporting the transition to social and economic stability and to laying the groundwork to promote inclusive growth and poverty reduction over the long term,” said Cox at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. “We are working to support the government’s efforts to deliver hope to the population and restore credibility in public institutions while also paving the way for working with the new government that will emerge from the elections at the end of the year.”
In meetings with Gerard Latortue, his cabinet, and Haitian President Boniface Alexander, Cox discussed the Bank’s programs and exchange views on the country’s economic development challenges.
“We very much welcome the first visit of a Vice President of the World Bank to Haiti in 10 years, the resumed cooperation and the opening of the new office in Port-au-Prince,” said Prime Minister Latortue. “It reflects the institution’s shared objectives with the Transitional Government of restoring social and economic stability and working toward a smooth transition with the government that will be democratically elected.”
The Bank had reduced its presence in Haiti in 2001 and maintained a liaison office until now.
In early January the Board had approved a two-year Transitional Support Strategy for Haiti, along with two operations for $73 million to support economic governance reforms and emergency recovery efforts in flood-affected areas. The two IDA-financed operations are the first to be approved by the Bank for Haiti since 1996.
The Bank is providing a total of $75 million in financing from IDA this fiscal year, of which $38 million will be provided in the form of grants. The Bank has disbursed $50 million from IDA and from the Low-Income Countries Under Stress (LICUS) Trust Fund. In addition, the Bank expects to be able to provide 100 percent of its IDA assistance on grant terms for investment projects in World Bank fiscal year 2006.
The Bank’s Transitional Support Strategy is built on two pillars: one is to help the government deliver hope to the population through quick wins—in the provision of basic services and job creation; and the second is to restore credibility in public institutions by helping the government launch reforms that promote sound economic governance and institutional development.
|
RSS