From what I can gather, the IPOA/GIS conference in Miami is going well. I also want to emphasize that for you owners of small companies, who want to get involved with opportunities in Haiti, then these are the types of conferences you should be attending. It is also advisable to go to the conference prepared, meaning you have the licenses and you have your company squared away to actually deliver on promises. Do not be the schmuck that goes to one of these things, and is not prepared or hasn’t a clue on how to put action to words and get boots on the ground. All eyes are on you, and if you screw up, it gives the entire industry a black eye.
What will be cool, is if Doug can give an AAR on this conference, and provide some details that the readership might be interested in. I think it is noteworthy that they only had three weeks or so to put this together, when normally these events take months to plan. That to me only highlights the flexibility and speed of what the private industry is capable of if properly organized and mobilized. I witnessed the same reaction of private industry during the Katrina Hurricanes back in 2005, and it is definitely a strength of the industry. So the next step after this conference, is to see who goes where, and what they are doing. I will keep a watch on it, and see what pops up. –Matt
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Private Sector Eyes Opportunity in Haiti Rebuilding
By Pascal Fletcher
March 10, 2010
Rebuilding Haiti after its catastrophic earthquake should generate major contracts for private companies specializing in construction, logistics, transport and security, but U.S. executives say they need a clear reconstruction strategy to shape their business plans.
Private sector firms that focus on post-conflict or disaster relief operations gathered at a meeting in Miami this week to consider the business opportunities offered by Haiti’s recovery from the January 12 quake that devastated the capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding towns.
With Haiti’s government saying up to 300,000 people may have died, some economists are calling the Haitian quake the deadliest natural disaster in modern times. Relief experts and business leaders agree the mammoth task of rebuilding what was already the Western Hemisphere’s poorest state will be impossible without private sector participation.
“I don’t think they have any option but to get private companies in to help reconstruct Haiti,” Kevin Lumb, CEO of London-based Global Investment Summits Ltd, which organized the Haiti Reconstruction meeting in Miami, told Reuters.
“I think it opens up a great deal of business opportunities. Most of their infrastructure is destroyed, their roads, communications, buildings, it’s obviously affected water supply, electricity, so that all needs rebuilding,” Lumb said.
The Miami summit was also organized by the International Peace Operations Association, a trade group of companies working in conflict, post-conflict and disaster zones.