Haiti's Commerce Ministry launches regional caravan to formalize 5,000 businesses
The pilot initiative, running October to November 2026, targets informal and provincial entrepreneurs across all ten departments.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) launched the "Regional Caravan for the Formalization and Revitalization of Commerce and Entrepreneurship" on Friday, October 16, 2026, at the Hotel Montana in Pétion-Ville, according to icihaiti.com and Le Nouvelliste. Minister of Commerce and Industry James Monazard presented the program under the high patronage of the Office of the Prime Minister.
The pilot initiative, scheduled to run from October to November 2026, aims to support the formalization and training of at least 5,000 businesses across the country's ten geographical departments. Monazard said the program was launched in response to a noted decline in business formalization, reflecting the Ministry's commitment to bringing services closer to economic operators, particularly those in the informal sector and in provincial regions.
MCI Director General Panel Paulémont said the Ministry's departmental offices would receive IT equipment to streamline the processing of applications. Danovald Charles, Director of Legal Affairs, presented statistics on businesses registered via the MCI's digital platform, launched at the end of 2024.
The caravan will facilitate the registration of trade names and the issuance of Professional Identification Cards (CIP). The initiative is supported by the Ministry of Planning.