Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis has revealed that the government of the Bahamas plans to import fruits and vegetables from Haiti by year end.
The revelation came yesterday during the Dr. Minnis’ address at a high level meeting at the National Palace of the Republic of Haiti with the President of the Republic of Haiti, His Excellency Jovenel Moise in the margins of the 29th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community, being held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
“Your (Haitian) president has said to his Minister of Agriculture that by the 31st of December 2018, he wants to see fruits and vegetables from Haiti meeting all the criteria we spoke about and by this date, they should be flowing into the Bahamian market.
“This is a message to my Minister of Agriculture. You have been given the greenlight. That means you must go, do not allow the orange light, because after that it is a red light and I do not want you to become history,” Dr. Minnis said.
The Prime Minister’s comments came on the heels of the discussions that were focused on the implementation of the three agreements between the governments of The Bahamas and the Republic of Haiti signed in Nassau on 29 July 2014, namely: a framework for bilateral cooperation; an agreement on trade and technical cooperation in the area of quality control for agricultural products and exportable fisheries; and an agreement on the promotion and protection of investments.
Both countries have expressed their desire to strengthen trade links for the purchase and sale of agricultural products and seafood and exportable fisheries between the two countries, through accepted international quality control standards.
The move seemed to reaffirm the determination of both governments to strengthen bilateral relations and mutual cooperation for the development of the two countries.
The countries also expressed their determination to address the migratory situation and to undertake joint initiatives that could contribute to reducing the flow of migration to The Bahamas and seek to find effective solutions to resolve the identification problem of Haitian nationals in The Bahamas.
In this regard the government of Haiti has decided to establish a centre of delivery and collection of identification of documents at the Embassy of Haiti in Nassau.
