Wednesday at the National Palace, the President Michel Martelly, accompanied by Stéphanie Villedrouin, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Industries, proceeded in the presence of several members of the Cabinet of Ministers, representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), of the World Bank and the Tourism Association of Haiti (ATH), to the official launch of project "Integrated regions of Touristic Development" (RIAT-South). This program RIAT - South, which is supported and financed by the IDB, also aims to value the wealth of all the coastal areas south and southeast.

It will extend from Aquin to Port-à-Pimentand is divided into two main components: infrastructure and capacity building in the tourism sector.

More than 30 tourist projects will be started in the South Coast, according to Minister Villedrouin, which renewed her determination as part of the implementation of tourism development poles through the Caribbean Coast of Haiti. She took the opportunity to extend its sincere thanks to the President Martelly for his full support to the tourism sector.

Will participate technically to the implementation of RIAT-South project : The National Heritage Preservation Institute (ISPAN) for the restoration of the historical heritage; the National Port Authority (APN) for the construction, operation and maintenance of piers; the National Bureau of Ethnology (BNE) for the management of intangible cultural heritage and the municipalities in jurisdictions where the work and studies will be realized. The overall strategic direction and inter-institutional coordination of this project will be provided by a steering committee.

"Arrangements will be made to preserve and make more attractive the tourist treasures of the region while facilitating access to visitors in order to encourage the construction of new attractions by the private sector and thus give the Great South all the visibility and national and international exposure that it can have," affirmed the Head of State.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Tourism are responsible for implementing this project, the total cost of execution over a 4 year period is estimated at the equivalent against 36 million US dollars from IDB and financed from the resources of the Facility Non Refundable of this financial institution.

HL/ HaitiLibre