2:30 P.M. EDT
Real Audio of Briefing
MR. DENIG: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Washington Foreign Press Center. We're pleased to be able to offer you a briefing today which will provide a preview of the Haiti Donors Conference meeting that will take place next week. For this briefing, we have two experts with us today. We have John Taylor, who is Under Secretary of the Department of Treasury for International Affairs; and we have Adolfo Franco, the Assistant Administrator of the Agency for International Development, responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Each of the briefers will have a brief opening statement to make, and after that, will be glad to take your questions. We would like to start with Under Secretary Taylor.
UNDER SECRETARY TAYLOR: Thank you very much for coming. We are having a donors conference next week. It will begin with technical discussions on July 19th, with the ministerial on July 20th. Secretary Powell will be making a presentation, as will President Wolfensohn from the World Bank and President Iglesias from the Inter-American Development Bank. There will also be discussions with the private sector that will be following on the morning of the next day.
One of the most important things that needs to be done in Haiti and in the reconstruction effort is to get the private sector engaged to create jobs, so we think it's particularly significant that there be this session on the private sector as part of the donors conference.
I was recently in Haiti. I met with the prime minister and his economic team, the finance minister and the central bank governor, and I must say I'm very impressed with the team and what it has already done on the economic side. They have restrained spending and, therefore, reduced the pressure on inflation and, in fact, inflation is already being contained from what could have been a serious inflation problem, a serious instability problem at the early part of this year. So they've already stood up to the plate to make some important fiscal adjustments. And they've already engaged with the International Monetary Fund on a staff-monitored program as well. So from the economic policy perspective, especially under the circumstances, one has to be very positive about what the Haitians are already beginning to do.
I also, in part of the planning for this donors conference, have seen a tremendous amount of international cooperation already. People are coming together. As you know, in the peacekeeping operation, the Brazilians are already taking a significant role in the fundraising. We're working with our European colleagues, with our Canadian colleagues. The international financial institutions are also stepping up to the plate.
There's already been a needs assessment done, and it indicates that over the next two years, about $1.3 billion is going to be needed to get the reconstruction moving, to get some serious reconstruction in the country. And this covers all things from road building to schools to water, et cetera.
We're very much hoping that the $1.3 billion will be raised at this conference next week. We think that there is a very good chance it will. People will have to step up to the plate. But already, we have about $400 million from the Inter-American Development Bank. The United States is hoping to pledge in the order of 200 million. If you take the 400 from the Inter-American Development Bank and the 200 from the United States, that leaves 700 million and we're very much hoping that the numbers will come in at the $1.3 billion mark.
And I'd like Assistant Administrator Adolfo Franco, in his remarks, of course, to comment on the USAID part of the $200 million or more from the United States.
I'd also like to say that this assistance effort, I think, is very much a new approach, a new era, if you like, of donor assistance for countries. There have been lessons learned, important lessons learned from the 1990's in our engagement with Haiti, where funds were also pledged, but where, in retrospect, the delivery of the results on the ground -- and I learned this in my own visits to Haiti -- have been disappointing. And now we really want to do it in a different way.
I'm very pleased that the prime minister -- and I call on him to do more of this -- wants to empower his government for quick and effective implementation of this assistance, so that there are results on the ground, there are roads built, there are schools reconstructed, schoolbooks delivered to children. We are also very pleased, as part of this effort and this new approach to implementation, that the donors are going to be assigning leadership roles in certain sectors.
The Inter-American Development Bank has already indicated that it will provide a leadership role in the area of road building. A lot of those contributions to this fundraising will be coming from the Inter-American Development Bank and they're the natural agency to provide the leadership coordination and measurable results approach to getting the results delivered.
So again, I think this is going to be not only a focus on getting the funds raised, which is extraordinarily important, but it's going to be a focus on getting the funds delivered like they never have before to make a real difference for the people of Haiti. We need to work on it. We've already got the cooperation and the pledges and we're very hopeful that this conference next week will be the beginning of a better life for the people of Haiti.
Adolfo?
MR. FRANCO: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. First, my name is Adolfo Franco. I'm the Assistant Administrator of AID for Latin America and the Caribbean. I'd like to thank Secretary Taylor for his important leadership on this issue of reconstruction efforts in Haiti, and speak to you briefly -- I think he's covered the themes very well, so I'll try to be as brief as possible and talk a little bit about what AID has -- the development component in Haiti in terms of our reconstruction effort. As you know, there's security and other issues and Treasury Department issues in terms of balance and payments and IMF.
But our role has been one to ensure that humanitarian assistance, which has been ongoing for a number of years, and new assistance on the reconstruction effort flow to Haiti and flow in a responsible manner. And this is what President Bush has charged us to do. His vision has been, from the beginning, in terms of a new opportunity that presented itself earlier this year to engage with the government of Haiti, to ensure that the United States' resources are adequate in terms of our responsibilities, and to seek additional support from the international community -- which we have been doing for a number of months and will hopefully culminate, as Secretary Taylor had said, next Monday or this coming Monday with firm commitments to fulfill the needs assessment level that the World Bank and others have established in the course of the last few months.
Let me say at the outset that the United States, throughout the past 30 years, has been committed to helping the people of Haiti. And during the previous government, in the last two or three years, where we've had differences, or had sharp differences of opinion regarding the authoritarian rule of the previous government and the polarization of the situation in Haiti, we remained the largest donor in Haiti. The largest bilateral donor in Haiti has been the United States -- that was the case last year and the previous two or three years prior to that.
What we now have is an opportunity to work with a government, an interim government that is committed, as Secretary Taylor has said, to be as responsive and as responsible as possible to get on line the necessary services, social services, and safety on the ground, and I'm sure that these services can be delivered in the shortest timeframe possible.
One of the things that I'm sure will be one of the questions is, and the Secretary has alluded to it, “haven't we been down this road before?” And the lessons we now have learned -- and we're very confident that this government today has demonstrated its goodwill -- is transparency, accountability, and coordination. And let me just speak briefly that this interim government has taken steps to set up an anticorruption unit, has engaged in dialogue with the other political parties over the last two or three months, and has set up a hotline in Haiti to address concerns of ordinary citizens regarding the services of government will function, how government is functioning in terms of its transparency and delivery of these services.
The United States and the international community have, from the beginning of this new situation that presented itself in February, late February, coordinated very closely to ensure -- that was something that we didn't do 10 years ago -- that our functions are not duplicative, and that we address the most immediate needs in a timely manner.
In response to those efforts, the United States, through AID, has provided electricity needs to Haiti in the last few months, which has been critical. We now have 12 hours of continuous electrical service in Port-Au-Prince with the several million dollars of assistance we have provided. In addition, we have addressed the sanitation and garbage issues, which were at a critical level in the major cities, particularly Port-Au-Prince, by providing fuel and job creations programs to address this very pressing need. Lastly, AID is working with the government to create immediate jobs, particularly in Cité Sole and other depressed areas, to give opportunity and hope and a demonstration that the government is committed to addressing the very pressing social needs.
Our goal, which is in response to those articulated by the government of Haiti, with which we agree, is to do everything we can to ensure that schools are opened on time this fall, that we have addressed the issues of electricity, water, clean water and garbage collections, that we have functioning airports and seaports and we work with other colleagues in the U.S. government to assist in that effort, and forward-looking, which this government is committed to, a very transparent and open process to plan for elections next year.
As you all know, the Prime Minister and his cabinet have made it very clear that they want to do the right thing. They are an interim government. They are not seeking to remain in office past the time that they do their duty of getting the country back on the right footing, on the road to reconstruction. That's what this conference will be about next week and that is a response to the assessments and the needs.
And as the Secretary has said, Secretary Taylor has made very clear, this time, we want to make sure that whether it's expertise, in the case of, for example, our good friends in Canada, with the Canadian International Development Agency on the energy sector, that they'll be responsible for these activities. We've had a long track record on food and other delivery and health programs. The United States will take on this responsibility.
So it will be a very open, transparent, well-coordinated effort. The United States has pledged for the first year alone over $200 million. We had planned 60 million at AID. We are now providing, as announced by the President, an additional 100 million on top of that this fiscal year alone. But the other donors and the other countries that are committed to the reconstruction of Haiti also provide adequate resources for the reconstruction effort.
Secretary Taylor just returned from Haiti. Secretary Powell and I traveled to Haiti earlier this spring. I traveled to Haiti three weeks ago with Governor Bush. I can tell you that this President and this Administration are fully committed to own up, not only to our responsibilities, but to do everything possible to ensure that we are now opening a new chapter for democracy, stability and prosperity in Haiti. Thank you very much.
MR. DENIG: Thank you, gentlemen. We'd like to take your questions now. As usual, we ask you to wait for the microphone and state your name and news organization. Let's start with the gentleman from Reuters.
QUESTION: Yes, hi, Pablo Bachelet, Latin America correspondent for Reuters. Question just to clear up the numbers. My understanding is that this fiscal year, I think, the U.S. has committed $100 million, and this $200 million commitment over the next two years would then maintain the current level of commitment. Is that correct?
And my other question, just to clear up the numbers then, these $200 million are going to be made available through this bilateral -- this donors conference. Is there additional aid outside the framework of this conference, or is that it? I mean, those $200 million through this donors conference is the total U.S. commitment to Haiti.
MR. FRANCO: Let me try to take a stab at that. First of all, in terms of USAID assistance, what was planned for fiscal year 2004, which ends at the end of September, and had been allocated based on our request last year, was approximately $60 million. In light of the changed circumstances and the needs of this government this year, what happened in the last two or three months, the President announced an additional allocation or additional package of $100 million, which brings, in terms of the assistance just managed through USAID, and some of it we will be working with other agencies to help us implement it, to $160 million.
Now, there are additional resources that bring the total higher than that that have to do with security and other police training and other needs that are being carried out by other United States Government agencies, and that's how we get to $180 million.
What we are talking about, over a two-year period, is at least $232 million for the coming year alone. We are in the process now of consulting with Congress because our FY-2005 request -- as you all know, this is based on what's appropriated to the Executive Branch -- for USAID was premised and prepared as part of the President's State of the Union Address in early February, before the changed circumstances, so we have planned a smaller budget for FY-2005 based on our historical previous activities in Haiti, which were largely, almost exclusively, through the nongovernmental organizations and U.S. private volunteer organizations working in that country, something about $52, $53 million. So those will need to be revised. So that's what we see in terms of the levels this year.
But one thing is clear. We are looking at a two-year package, which means if this year's levels are at the 200-plus level, we are looking to maintain a level that's adequate. The elections themselves will be quite expensive and we need to factor in the cost for that, as will the other donor community.
In terms of this being the only aid and so forth in this package, this donors conference is a response to a needs assessment. It is what the country needs, Secretary Taylor says, for the next 18 to 24 months, and this is what this is in response to. I want you all to know there has been considerable donor coordination on the ground in Port-au-Prince -- I've been a part of it -- as there has been through -- in Washington, throughout other capitals, for some time. This is not the first time that there's been consultation. This is the first formal donors conference to actually react to the fully prepared needs assessment and to make the pledges. So I believe this will be an ongoing process beyond next week.
MR. DENIG: Just to clarify the figures again, if I may: So the $232 million figure represents the rest of this fiscal year plus fiscal year '05?
MR. FRANCO: Right. What we had planned for next year is $52 million, so with $180 million this year, that brings the two-year level right now to $232 million. But we are taking this a phase at a time. We had planned a budget for 60, 100 million has been added, we have planned or requested 52 million, so we are talking at least a 232.
MR. DENIG: Okay, let's take the gentleman in the way back there, please.
UNDER SECRETARY TAYLOR: Actually, just one other thing. The conference is focused on the next two years, as the Assistant Administrator indicated, and some of the U.S. funding is up front, if you like, because we plan the rest of '04 and the '05 budget is on the Hill at this point.
But part of this extends into even our '06 budget. We won't be putting that on the table at this donors conference, but some of the other pledgers will be able to pull two years. The World Bank pledge will be two years. The IADB pledge will be two years. And perhaps some other countries will be two years. So, in some sense, our number here understates the U.S. contribution over the two-year period, and we just can't specify what it will be in the out years because that depends, to a large extent, on our '06 budget.
The second thing is, even though this is two years, I think I want to emphasize this is a long-term engagement that goes beyond the two years. This has got to be something that continues. It's going to be a long period of engagement to help Haiti get back on their feet.
QUESTION: All right. So it's 200 million for the next year?
MR. FRANCO: I'm sorry?
QUESTION: 200 million for the fiscal year '05? Or --
MR. FRANCO: If you're going back to the particular -- (off mike) -- 232 million for the two-year period and then the rest of the '06 numbers were the same. And even the '05 numbers were still to be worked on.
QUESTION: Pablo (inaudible) from the Brazilian Service of the BBC. Two questions, actually. One is while I think in some cases in donors it's easy to convince these people to give their money if it's a business opportunity or something, do you see any kind of investments or partnerships or privatizations or anything of that possible in Haiti that could attract money?
And the second question is more on the political side. I've been to Haiti one month ago or so and I think it's a fact on the ground that regardless of how sustainable the Aristide government was, the Family Lavalas, his political group, is still a major political group in Haiti and it's not freely taking part in this government or any sort of administrative decisions. Is it possible to distribute, to use this money in Haiti, without this important part of Haitian political life being included in this government?
UNDER SECRETARY TAYLOR: Well, on the first question regarding the private sector, as I mentioned, we're going to have as part of this donors conference a special session on the private sector. That will take place on the morning of the 21st. I'm going to lead off that session. The Prime Minister has already indicated that his Finance Minister will be there making a presentation about why they want Haiti to be an attractive place, a more attractive place than it has been in the past for an investment.
We think without the foreign investment and the private sector investment in Haiti -- and also there can be private sector investment from the Dominican Republic and other countries in the region -- without that we won't have the sustained job creation and the sustained improvement in living standards. So it's essential. Again, the private sector, the private sector in Haiti, is a very interested diaspora. We've spoken to many Haitians who are now interested in investing and thinking about Haiti again, so it's a very powerful thing.
To the extent that it relates to the donor contributions, I've not heard that. I've heard the donor contributions, whether it's IDB or the United States, focused on these humanitarian things as well as infrastructure things. They know that will help private investment, but it's not contingent on that. It's not the purpose, but it's essential to have the private investment.
Maybe you could talk about the political question, okay?
MR. FRANCO: Thank you. Let me -- before the political question, I just want to add one thing. We're very fortunate that Secretary Taylor shows the importance that we put on the private sector and the business sector involvement in investment. He'll be launching this conference, very important conference on the 21st, which will come on the heels of what the governments have discussed and pledged. So it's extraordinarily timely.
In the last two or three months, Secretary Powell has asked and we have carried out -- chaired them -- three conferences, four conferences: New York, Miami, and Chicago with the Haitian-American Diaspora and business community, which will also be participating in this. The prime minister has said it's essential to have the human resource and the business investment and the climate and the suggestions necessary from the community to address regulatory and other aspects of doing business in Haiti from, particularly, Haitian-Americans who understand both sides of it. And to have, of course, representation at the highest level from our Treasury Department on issues regarding regulation and what we need to do to enhance that is critical.
On the Lavalas involvement, on your second part of the question, a couple of things. Since he's chaired these with me, I want to remind everyone that Alix Baptiste, who is a member of the cabinet and Secretary for Haitians Living Abroad, was a former cabinet official in the Lavalas party. So the inclusiveness and the openness of this government to everyone, to the wide spectrum of points of view in Haiti, is open.
Yes, there is an open question as to the representation on Lavalas and how that is brought about. I can assure you that it is our understanding that Lavalas is -- will be a participant, should be a participant. The internal workings of that representation and the individuals that were suggested is something that is an internal matter in Haiti, but there is no attempt, as demonstrated by even the appointment by this president and prime minister of members of previous government to their cabinet -- reflects the ideal of inclusiveness and dialogue.
And as I mentioned earlier as well, there is an outreach effort that began on July 5th, which started on the dialogue with the political parties and on the anticorruption that this government has launched.
MR. DENIG: All right. Let's go to the right there.
QUESTION: Yes, Nestor Ikeda, Associated Press report for Latin America. I have a question for Mr. Taylor. I know you visit the Dominican Republic, too, in this trip to Haiti. Is there any kind of plan for helping the Dominican Republic together with Haiti?
UNDER SECRETARY TAYLOR: A couple of things on that. There's no connection to the support. The countries are so much different and the situations are so much different. With respect to the Dominican Republic, the hope is that after the transition and the inauguration in August, that there will be reengagement of the IMF. The IMF program will be put back on track.
There is, I would say, extraordinarily good cooperation between President Mejia's government and the incoming government in terms of a transition and exchanging information about the state of the economy.
So we are helping with respect to the way things are going to move, but it's a financial issue that they're facing. They had a serious problem of fraud in a major bank a few years ago, which got things off on the wrong track. They're trying to address that and how they address that is going to be important for the future.
I'd say, just with respect to Haiti, of course, the Dominican Republic, like everyone else in the region, like everyone else in the world, I hope, thinks Haiti could do a lot better. It's the poorest country in our hemisphere. They're a neighbor. They know more about it than a lot and they would benefit greatly from a growing Haiti. And so, they have every interest in it like we do as well.
MR. DENIG: Okay. Next question?
(No response.)
MR. DENIG: Any last questions?
(No response.)
MR. DENIG: Okay. Well, thank you very much, gentlemen. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
