Speech by Philippe Armand, President of Amcham, at 33rd General Assembly

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE AMCHAM
TO THE GENERAL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2013

Dear Members:

Thank you for participating at the Annual General Meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti (AmCham). This year’s event is more popular than we originally thought thanks to the high participation of our Members. This is why we took the initiative to propose electronic voting this year (the first of its kind in Haiti) which allowed members even while traveling, to cast their vote and elect our new Board of Directors for 2013.

Now, here I am reaching the end of my term as President of the 2012-2013 Board of Directors of AmCham. Know that I have been honored to serve and I want from my first words to greet and thank the professionalism and dedication of the members of the Board of Directors and our Executive Director. Without the talent on this team, my work would have been more difficult and that we could hardly have achieved the desired results.

As you probably know (but it is worth remembering in these circumstances) the AmCham is not like the other Chambers. First of all, we are the product of a network of Chambers of Commerce around the world who have the primary mission of promoting trade and investment between the United States and the local country. In the Americas we are composed of 23 countries that belong to a sub-regional group called AACCLA (the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean) with which the enrollment of more than 20,000 local and American companies (affiliated to U.S. companies), represent more than 80% of U.S. investment in Latin America and the Caribbean. AACCLA is a subsidiary of U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Washington DC, the largest federation of private companies around the world.

United States of America is the main economic partner of Haiti, AmCham has an important role to play. Pursuing the object of his mission:
1) Haiti AmCham together to begin with, nearly a hundred companies in Haiti and arguably the most important market
2) AmCham took an active part in national economic debates always based on the principles of free enterprise, market economy and the opening of market mechanisms for Free Trade
3) AmCham working constructively but not partisan with governmental and administrative bodies of Public Sector
4) AmCham has worked closely with economic and institutional development of Haiti, in collaboration with other Chambers of Commerce and is a full member of the Private Sector Economic Forum.
5) AmCham offers its members a variety of services such as the organization of “AmCham-Forum” and “match making sessions” between Haitian and American entrepreneurs through Trade Delegations and Gold Key Service with US Commercial Services.
6) AmCham ensures the disclosure of trade and economic events on our website www.amchamhaiti.com
7) Finally, this year’s “Board of AmCham” took steps to reactivate the acceleration of the process of renewing U.S. visas for our members to facilitate their commercial travel;

The past year was eventful for AmCham :
• We organized two major events of more than 400 people each, with our members and guests, with the participation of His Excellency President Michel Martelly and the Ambassador of the United States at the end of his term, Mr. Kenneth Merten.

• The Board of Directors of AmCham had lunches and dinners working successively with U.S. Ambassador Pamela White, with the Consul General of the United States Jay Smith and Mr. Joel Danies, Charge d’Affaires HAITI DESK for the State Department.

• In July 2012, AmCham organized jointly with Ambassador Pamela White, a cocktail Memorial on July 4 in her residence with the participation of Amcham members and guests.

• In December 2012, AmCham organized jointly with Ambassador Pamela White, an Christmas cocktail reception her residence, with the participation of our members and special guests.

• Last month, together with the Embassy of the United States, AmCham organized a Forum for the President of OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) where Ms. Elizabeth Littlefield described funding opportunities by OPIC for public and private projects in Haiti;

• On the other hand, the President of AmCham and members of our Board of Directors took part in a multitude of events including:

o working meetings on many occasions with the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister,

the Minister of Finance and Economy, the Minister of Trade, Minister of Tourism and repeatedly

with the President of the Senate and the President of the Chamber of Deputies and other parliamentarians to push for new laws to be passed

o our active participation in the Board of Directors of the Private Sector Economic Forum

alongside of Presidents of Major Associations, Chambers of Commerce and the private sector;

o Participation of the President of AmCham at the inauguration of Park Caracol in northern Haiti,

financed by the IDB and USAID;

o our participation at AACCLA Conferences which this year were held in Mexico, Washington and Miami

• In addition, the Board of Directors meets at least once a month to discuss the agenda and positions of AmCham. Participate in these meetings, members of the Board of Directors of AmCham, but also representatives of the Economic Office of the Embassy of the United States in the persons of Mr John Robinson and Mr. Skye Justice. Allow me to pause here to thank both warmly on behalf of “the AmCham Board” for their invaluable support which was a great help.

• During our monthly meetings, the “Board of AmCham” was the subject of many presentations by special guests such as:

o The Mayor of Miami Carlos Gimenez assisted by his colleagues at the twinning International Airport in Port-au-Prince International Airport Miami Dade County;

o The local team LEOPARD CAPITAL headed by Mr. Thierry Bungener

o Mr. Antoine Atouriste, Director of ULCC (Unit for Combating Corruption)

o Ms. Nicole Widdersheim of USAID

o Andy René, Executive Director of CFI (Center for Investment Facilitation)

o the former Minister Henri Bazin and the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, to show us the

Court of Arbitration and Conciliation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haiti

o President of the Association of Notaries Me Marie Alice Belizaire and members of the Board;

• For its part our Executive Director represented AmCham both in Haiti and abroad:

o the various meetings of AACCLA

o as a full member of the CTMO-HOPE Commission to promote the textile and manufacturing sector in Haiti;

o as a participant in the drafting of the Investment Guide  by the Investment

Facilitation Center (CFI) and the Inter American Development Bank (IDB))
o as a delegate to the CCAA Conference (Caribbean Central America Action) in New Orleans, Louisiana;
o speaker at a conference organized by NAHP (National Association of Haitian Professionals) a Haitian-American organization in the US with its first Symposium in Newark New Jersey)
o as a panelist alongside the economic team of the US Embassy, during a “Webinar” promoting investment opportunities in Haiti.

Finally, AmCham received two U.S. Trade Missions. The first, a Dade County Trade Delegation, where 18 companies based in Florida met with 57 Haitian businessmen. In a preliminary report, the Trade Mission generated more than U.S. $600,000 in sales for these companies. The second, a Trade Delegation from Mississippi, where 4 American companies met with 9 Haitian companies.

In conclusion, we pride ourselves to give the new Board a healthy AmCham which under our administration, experienced an increase of 20% in Membership and revenues (premiums + activities) reaching  $280,000 and an excess amount of about $60,000.

As you can see, AmCham is doing well, but much more remains to be done in a difficult economic environment both in Haiti and internationally. AmCham is ready and committed. We will continue to strive for increased service to our members. We will seek technical input from professionals but we have foremost on your personal commitment and your pro-activity in our committees.

Thank you for your attention,
Philip R. Armand, President
American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti (AmCham)