Haiti welcomes 2013 with Bold Strategic Alliance with Vietnam

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, /PRNewswire/ -- The governments of Haiti and Vietnam are demonstrating that South-South cooperation can lead to the fruitful exchange of resources, technology and knowledge. A series of significant agreements signed in late December 2012 provide the framework for a novel form of long term cooperation that will allow Haiti to address food security, one of its key challenges. The government of Haiti hopes that these agreements will enable Haiti to leapfrog development stages as it attempts to create a resilient agricultural production system. As 2013 rolled in, these agreements were already translating into concrete positive benefits including lower prices for rice, Haiti's key staple food. According to Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, "The principal goal of the agreements we have signed with Vietnam is to find innovative ways to insure food security for all of our citizens." Lamothe's strategic plan identifies ways to mitigate the impact of natural disasters on Haiti's food supply and to reduce its reliance on the import of agricultural products such as rice. The Haitian government's goal is to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of food.