EU-DIGEST

Poverty stricken Haitian cooking food for family

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Haiti: Crushing poverty and despair - by Nicholas Eberstadt

Haiti--the beautiful, perpetually tormented tropical purgatory that occupies the western third of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola--cannot help but focus the comfortable and well-fed foreign visitor's attention on two profound issues of the modern era: the reasons for the persistence of so much misery in an ever more affluent world, and the practical measures that might permit our world's poorest countries to escape from the heart-rending deprivation that they continue to suffer. With an area comparable to the state of Maryland and a population (at about eight and a half million) roughly the size of New York City's, Haiti is closer to Florida--just an hour and a half from Miami by jet--than is Washington, D.C. But in a very real sense, the distance between the United States and Haiti is almost unimaginable. By the yardstick of income, Haiti is by far the poorest spot in the Western Hemisphere, and in fact one of the very poorest places on the planet. State Department and CIA guesses put the country's per capita income at about $550 a year, or about a dollar and a half per day--but these formal, exchange-rate based estimates are highly misleading, if not meaningless. (Could anyone in the United States today survive for a year consuming no more than $1.50 worth of goods and services a day?) A better sense of Haiti's plight comes from comparisons of purchasing power. Perhaps the most authoritative global estimates of this sort have been done by Angus Maddison,the eminent economic historian. At the start of this decade, according to Maddison, Haiti's per capita output was thirty-five times lower than that of the United States. To get a sense of what this means: Think how things would go for your family if you had to get by for the entire year on just ten days of your current earnings. Many Haitians have to eat dirt "cookies," a mixture of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening, just to survive

Note EU-Digest: Adding to the misery in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation are hurricanes -- Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike this year left 790 people dead and hundreds more injured, and now facing life-threatening food shortages. Haiti’s development has also been fettered by an ongoing cycle of corrupt regimes, debilitating natural disasters, lack of institutional planning and organization and the non-regulation of the use and distribution of natural resources. It is amazing to realize that a country which is so close to the US homeland and a part of the US controlled Organization of American States is being allowed to slip so deep into despair and poverty while it could be a showcase of US ingenuity and support.

Labels: Aid programs, Caribbean, Haiti, OAS, USA

China's President Latin America tour cements Beijing's trade clout

China's president, Hu Jintao, is leading scores of Chinese business people on a sweep through Latin America to reinforce Beijing's growing economic clout in the region. Hu launched free trade talks on a visit to Costa Rica, before flying to a rapturous reception in Cuba. This week he will also be one of the stars at a Pacific rim summit of 21 nations in Peru. By then, Beijing's delegation will have grown to 600 people, including 12 ministers."China's relations with Latin America and the Caribbean have never been so close," Hu told Peru's El Comercio newspaper. In contrast to Russia's politically charged push into the region - which involves selling arms and challenging US influence - Beijing's focus is on agriculture, raw materials and markets for its exports.

Labels: Caribbean, China, Cuba, Latin America, Peru, Trade

CHA applauds economic partnership agreement with Europe

The Board of Directors of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), at the meeting during Marketplace 2008, has praised the recently concluded Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, a first-ever, alliance that will ensure continued support of tourism interests in the Caribbean. This is the first-ever international treaty to include language on Caribbean tourism and thus gives recognition to the importance of the development of the tourism industry that has become central to the future success of the regional economy. As a result of this just concluded agreement, CHA looks forward to the establishment of an appropriate Cariforum mechanism that will lead to the rapid implementation of what has been agreed in order that the industry may improve its competitiveness in preparation for the agreed upon level of services liberalisation.

Labels: Caribbean, EU

Click on this link for additional information

Rick Morren, president of Morren Mondial Associates, Inc., (MMA), an International Business Development Corporation with offices in Maine and Florida has been tirelessly promoting the use of alternative energy resources around the US, the Caribbean and Turkey. Most recently his focus has been on methods which collect methane gas and keep it out of the atmosphere, by using the gas to produce energy. Morren who is a Dutch citizen says, "Cow dung mixed with other organic materials,like logging trims, agricultural or fish industry leftovers can be turned into energy at a relative low cost. It is being done in many areas of Europe and there is no reason why it can not be done elsewhere. "An added benefit to producing this energy", he says,"is that it also stops the methane created by decaying waste from escaping into the atmosphere and warming the planet.

"A single farm with an average number of live-stock could supply electricity to about 15 to 20 homes throughout the year. On a large scale this might seem like a drop in the bucket", said Morren, "but on a small scale, it does make a difference."

MMA has several exclusive turn-key agreements with alternative energy technology companies in Europe including; Germany (this agreement in partnership with Euro Trust Investments, USA, Inc.); Austria (MMA agreement); Netherlands (MMA agreement) and Switzerland (MMA agreement). "All these companies", says Morren, "can provide MMA clients with the technology and expertise to implement bio-mass generating capabilities anywhere in the world. This technology cuts the cost on the use of energy, reduces green-house gas emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. Cow dung can smell sweet when it cuts your energy costs."
For additional information contact: mma@europehouse.com

Labels: Alternative Energy Resources, biomass, Caribbean, Economy, Latin America, Russia; US, Turkey

Curacao a Caribbean Treasure

Walk ... on ancient cobblestones past homes and shops that date back to the 1500s. Walk alongside water, or on top of water. This Caribbean city, the largest in the Netherlands Antilles, straddles an ocean-shipping channel laid out like a busy Amsterdam canal. When freighters are passing through, a miniature ferry carries pedestrians back and forth between the twin banks of the colonial Old Town. A floating pontoon bridge is hauled into place the rest of the time, allowing strollers easy access to both halves of downtown. Elites here speak Dutch or English, essential for a private-banking industry that caters to an international clientele. Papiamento, a Dutch Creole, is the language of the street. Growing populations of immigrant Haitians, Colombians and Venezuelans contribute to a spicy ethnic stew. With one of the oldest Jewish communities on earth, Willemstad boasts two synagogues, one founded by Sephardic refugees who arrived here from Spain in the 1650s, the other, "new" congregation dates back to the 1930s arrival of European Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.

Labels: Caribbean, Curacao

Caribbean trade ministers to appraise EU trade offer

Caribbean trade ministers are to meet in Jamaica on Thursday to appraise a European Commission offer to remove almost all remaining quotas and tariffs on goods shipped to the European Union. Guyana's trade minister, Henry Jeffery, says the meeting will be held from Thursday April 12 to Saturday April 14.

EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, announced on Wednesday that the measures will take effect next January. He said by removing the remaining tariffs and quotas for Caribbean, African and Pacific nations, the EU would create the best possible opportunities for their economies.

Labels: Caribbean, EU, Quotas