IFC to aid Haiti firms with $35 mln aid program

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Finance Corp on Tuesday approved $35 million to help companies in Haiti rebuild and create jobs following devastation caused by a January earthquake, which has devastated the economy.

The emergency program by the World Bank's private sector lender will finance six companies in manufacturing, infrastructure, agriculture and financial services.

People line up for food distributed by U.N. forces after the earthquake in Port-au-Prince in this January 14, 2010 file photo. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/Files)

"IFC's emergency program aims to help rebuild Haiti's private-sector companies and to support their role in the recovery process by creating or saving thousands of jobs," IFC chief Lars Thunell said in a statement.

"Support for the private sector is needed so that companies can rebuild infrastructure, provide goods and services, and provide financing for small businesses," he added.

The IFC would also advise companies and government agencies in Haiti on how to expand the country's special economic zones and improve the environment for business, Thunell said.

Such steps will help ensure that Haiti's textile sector continues to benefit from the U.S.'s Hope II Act that encourages such exports to the United States.

Separately, World Bank President Robert Zoellick met Haitian President Rene Preval in Washington and pledged to support the island in its efforts to rebuild.

The outcome of a cost assessment of the damage caused by the earthquake is due on Friday and comes just as the Caribbean country begins to prepare for annual hurricane season, which starts in June.

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