New UK embassy to boost trade in earthquake-hit Haiti

 
6 June 2013

Britain is to open an embassy in Haiti to boost the Caribbean country’s recovery from the ravages of the 2010 earthquake and create new trade opportunities for UK firms.

Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire, who will travel to Port au Prince next week to unveil the embassy, said the move was part of a wider strategy to boost Britain’s presence throughout Latin America in response to its growing economic and political importance.

He said one key aim of the expansion into Haiti was to assist its government in “nation-building” as it seeks to establish a stable democracy following the earthquake, which killed an estimated 200,000 people, and preceding years of political turmoil and dictatorship.

But Mr Swire said British businesses could capitalise as tourism and trade revived in the country. “We want to see more British companies trading there,” he told the Evening Standard. “Haiti was an incredibly rich country once and if you look over the border at the Dominican Republic, and particularly its growing tourism industry, there is no reason why it can’t be again. We want our businesses to benefit from that.”

Mr Swire said Britain was already spending £70 million a year in Haiti in aid channelled through the UN, the European Union and World Bank, and had given a further £10 million in January to help it cope better with future earthquakes and other disasters.

A continuing cholera epidemic has claimed thousands of lives and there has been a food shortage after Hurricane Sandy last year.

Mr Swire added: “We have a lot invested in Haiti and we want to help because there are concerns about the government being strong enough to deliver the reforms that are needed.”

As well as the embassy in Haiti, Britain has also opened a consulate in the Brazilian city of Recife and a embassy in El Salvador. Another new embassy will open in Paraguay later this year.

Britain last had an embassy in Haiti in 1966 and has had links with the country since 1833. The new embassy will be within the Canadian embassy in Port au Prince to reduce costs.

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