Bill Clinton announces a deal for an industrial park
President Bill Clinton is overseeing the post-earthquake recovery effort in Haiti. He announced a plan to build an new industrial park in the north of Haiti.
On the day before the one year anniversary of the earthquake, former President Bill Clinton joined members of the Interim Haitian Recovery Commission, the U.S. government, Haitian business leaders and the chairman of the South Korean company Sae-A for the signing of an agreement to build a new industrial park in the North of Haiti.
The project promises to create 20,000 jobs in the garment industry with the potential for more in the future.
Proponents of the plan say tens of thousands of indirect jobs will also develop as the factories come on line.
While the project's designers claim it will generate $500 million in wages and benefits over 10 years, Haitian laborers are among the lowest paid in the world.
Graduates of a training program at the Haiti Apparel Center in Port-au-Prince can earn $7 US a day. But it's not uncommon to find factory workers in Haiti earning less that $4 a day. Haiti's production and delivery costs are on par with those in Cambodia and Bangladesh.
The project promises to create 20,000 jobs in the garment industry with the potential for more in the future.
Proponents of the plan say tens of thousands of indirect jobs will also develop as the factories come on line.
While the project's designers claim it will generate $500 million in wages and benefits over 10 years, Haitian laborers are among the lowest paid in the world.
Graduates of a training program at the Haiti Apparel Center in Port-au-Prince can earn $7 US a day. But it's not uncommon to find factory workers in Haiti earning less that $4 a day. Haiti's production and delivery costs are on par with those in Cambodia and Bangladesh.
NEXT: Displaced Haitians still live in tent cities
Last updated January 21 2011: 1:08 PM ET
