Reposted from Haiti Libre

Power plant in Caracol, Haiti.

Haiti’s government officially launched a census Monday aimed at taking stock of the country’s commercial and industrial enterprises.

Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe was on hand for the launch of the initiative, which is being organized by Haiti’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.

“Everyone recognizes the importance of such an activity,” said Lamothe, who called the census a “prerequisite to any policy to support the development of entrepreneurship in Haiti.”

Lamothe said Haiti needed to establish a policy to support “productive investment,” to develop small and medium-sized enterprises and to manage and promote the private sector to better address employment.

Last month, Lamothe said the country is seeking to become an “emerging” economy within the next 20 years.

“This will be achieved if we are able to set up an environment conducive to private investment and a regulatory framework that inspires confidence in potential investors in Haiti,” he said at the time.

Part of the rationale for the census, Lamothe said Monday, is Haiti’s large informal sector, which he said comprises more than 80 percent of the country’s economy.

Haiti plans to launch the business census across the country.