Économie

IDB Group President Ilan Goldfajn said the development bank is ready to help the most vulnerable countries in the region as they grapple with the fallout from rising oil prices—and Haiti is first in line.  The Inter-American Development Bank, the IDB Group’s public-sector lending arm, approved a two-year concessional program for $283 million last November to aid the crisis-riven country, the hemisphere’s poorest, and there may be more to come.

Buried in the long speech to the Congress last Friday, 27 February 2026 was the announcement of an initiative to open several “dry ports” along the border with Haiti. These are basically container (multi-modal) and logistical hubs as well as customs stations, but removed from the sea. President Luis Abinader’s announcement on 27 February 2026 specifically highlighted a network of dry ports acting as an “economic wall” on the border.

The Dominican Federation of Merchants and the Association of Border Exporters of Cement and Construction Materials held a strategic meeting aimed at strengthening trade ties with Haiti while promoting sustainable development in border communities.

Una treintena de países de América Latina y el Caribe buscan desde este lunes en Panamá elaborar un plan de emergencia para Haití, que enfrenta una de las mayores crisis humanitarias por la violencia de las pandillas. La reunión se produce después de que Naciones Unidas no haya logrado recaudar ni una cuarta parte de los 908 millones de dólares que había solicitado en febrero de 2025 a gobiernos y organismos internacionales para ayudar a Haití, según la Asociación de Estados del Caribe (AEC).

The House of Representatives on Monday voted to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) four months after the trade programs expired. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) added the three-year extension bills to the docket of legislation to be considered on the House floor this week, and lawmakers voted on the issue Monday afternoon.