As a member of the World Trade Organization and of CARICOM, Haiti is engaged in a liberalization and economic integration process at the multilateral and regional levels. In order to better prepare the public and private sectors to the challenges stemming from trade negotiations, the Bureau de Coordination et de Suivi (BCS) and the Department of Trade and Tourism of the Organization of American States (OAS) organized, with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Course on International Trade: The Integration of Haiti to the Multilateral and Regional System. This three-week intensive course took place in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, in June 2008.

The group of twenty participants, composed of high-ranking government officials and representatives of the private sector, studied in-depth the issues covered in trade agreements as well as Haiti’s trade commitments thanks to the presence of several speakers from Haiti and abroad. The discussions highlighted the concern shared by the Haitian representatives regarding the complementary agenda Haiti needs to implement to fully benefit from trade agreements.