海角大神

Haitians are buying nails to make initial repairs, searching out 鈥渢ri-tri鈥� 鈥� a powder of tiny dried fish used to season rice 鈥� and even getting haircuts: all of which means that, slowly, the economy is showing signs of life after being knocked out by the Jan. 12 earthquake.

鈥淏usiness is coming back little by little, despite the damage in the neighborhood, I guess because we Haitians like to keep our hair cut,鈥� says Savien Franciscain, who is running both chairs at the tiny barber shop he operates in Port-au-Prince鈥檚 heavily damaged center. 鈥淚 reopened Sunday, and it鈥檚 been pretty good ever since.鈥�

Across the capital, the indicators of a renascent economy are unmistakable: bustling street markets, reopened clothing shops, and lots of long lines 鈥� especially at cellphone providers, as customers seek to replace lost or damaged phones, and at remittance-receiving agencies and banks. After the temblor shut down the central bank and choked off the banking system, Haitians found themselves cash-starved.

Plans are in the works among Haitian government and international monetary officials and donor countries to get money circulating through the economy again. The country needs an infusion of cash to get moving, economists say, while the Haitian government is contemplating a stimulus program to jumpstart private-sector activity.

鈥淚n the short term, we have to get small business going again, and that means getting money in people鈥檚 hands so they buy what the small businesses offer,鈥� says Kisner Pharel, a Harvard-trained Haitian economist. He says Haiti鈥檚 central bank has done a good job of getting back on its feet, but what scares him are the country鈥檚 banks.

鈥淎fter this disaster, the massive destruction we鈥檝e had, there are going to be a lot of what鈥�Americans would call toxic assets,鈥� Mr. Pharel says. 鈥淭he banks are going to be dealing with that while we need them to be lending and getting things moving again.鈥�

Open for business, but short on cash

Even Haiti鈥檚 smallest merchants understand the importance of getting money in people鈥檚 hands. Yiolene Aristyl operates a tiny vegetable and small-groceries 鈥渕arket鈥� 鈥� actually a plot no larger than a square yard 鈥� on a busy thoroughfare leading into central Port-au-Prince.

鈥淧eople don鈥檛 have a lot of cash to buy things, and what they do have they are extra-careful with because they fear running out,鈥� she says, selling a couple of onions and some tri-tri to a picky shopper. Another problem is inflation. 鈥淣ow I have to pay [$10] for what cost me [$2] before the event.鈥� (The 鈥渆vent鈥� is how many Haitians choose to call the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that devastated the country).

Jean-Claude Berjelain is buying a one-pound sack of nails at a small hardware store in the capital鈥檚 Javenat neighborhood, but he thinks the aftershocks that occasionally shake Port-au-Prince will discourage major repair and rebuilding for a while yet. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to nail down some metal sheets where part of my roof fell in, but nothing more than that,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he earth keeps moving, moving.鈥�

But he says there is also an economic problem. 鈥淧eople just don鈥檛 have any money,鈥� he says. 鈥淗ow can you expect things to get moving again if people have nothing to spend?鈥�

Will foreign money help?

At the city鈥檚 only surviving Domino鈥檚 Pizza restaurant 鈥� there were three before the quake 鈥� owner Ronald Jaar says he figures he鈥檒l have to depend on the thousands of doctors, relief workers, and other foreigners who have flooded into the city to keep afloat.

鈥淥ur economy was already bad, but this means unemployment will be much higher,鈥漵ays Mr. Jaar, who also owned the two destroyed Domino鈥檚 鈥� and had to let those employees go. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 35 jobs lost,鈥� he says.

Still, Jaar, a US-trained engineer, says he believes Haiti has the option to 鈥渢urn this disaster into our chance. All the money that鈥檚 going to be pouring in,鈥� he adds, 鈥渋f it鈥檚 well managed, can create a lot of jobs and, maybe even more important, a lot of new entrepreneurs with a new way of thinking.鈥�

This theme of 鈥渙pportunity out of the rubble鈥� is gaining ground with some Haitians, and among foreign officials and in international business circles as well.

This week the international business and economic elite were to discuss Haiti investment opportunities at Davos, Switzerland 鈥� with Haiti advocate Bill Clinton in attendance. One idea is to create investment zones and lower business-creation hurdles to give what had been Haiti鈥檚 nascent garment industry a second beginning.

Outside Port-au-Prince?

Another idea is to focus economic-development efforts outside of a heavily-congested Port-au-Prince, so that at least some of the hundreds of thousands of the city鈥� residents who fled after the quake don鈥檛 feel the economic need to return.

鈥淲e have an opportunity now to re-imagine this country in a way that could have never been accomplished politically,鈥� says economist Pharel.
Everyone agrees that Port-au-Prince was too crowded, he says, but those who have left will only stay where they are if the country鈥檚 regions have the same or better amenities 鈥� jobs, schools, an airport 鈥� as the capital.

Pharel says Haiti鈥檚 recent history of deep political divisions would suggest that a 鈥渦nity of vision鈥� won鈥檛 be easy. But he says the quake presents Haitians with an opportunity to benefit from the world鈥檚 focus and largesse 鈥� something that he says everyone knows won鈥檛 last forever. With an international donors鈥� conference for Haiti set for March in New York, he says Haitians have a little over a month to 鈥渃ome together and come up with a vision and a strategy鈥� for their future.

鈥淲e have to treat this as something like our 9/11,鈥� Pharel says. 鈥淭his has to shock us into doing things very differently.鈥�