In a high-level diplomatic meeting held on August 18, 2026, Haiti’s Minister of Planning and External Cooperation Sandra Paulemon hosted Brazilian Ambassador to Haiti Luís Guilherme Nascentes Da Silva to lay the groundwork for expanded and reinvigorated bilateral cooperation between the two Caribbean and South American nations.
During their closed-door discussions, Minister Paulemon first reaffirmed Haiti’s long-standing commitment to deepening its collaborative ties with Brazil. She offered public praise for Brazil’s consistent participation in South-South cooperation initiatives, as well as the welcoming environment Brazil has extended to Haitian migrants and citizens residing in the country over decades. She also spotlighted the existing solid foundation of bilateral trade, which hit approximately $81 million in total volume in 2024. Beyond current trade levels, Paulemon emphasized that there remains substantial untapped potential to increase the market access of Haitian exports in Brazil, and to grow two-way trade flows in the coming years.
To advance this economic cooperation, the Haitian minister proposed a strategic shift in the bilateral relationship: moving beyond a reliance on Haitian imports of Brazilian goods toward attracting new Brazilian direct investment, facilitating targeted technology transfer, and establishing joint co-production facilities within Haiti’s borders. She also formally requested bilateral budgetary support from Brazil to assist with Haiti’s national budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, a request the Brazilian side quickly signaled openness to.
Paulemon also put forward an innovative new initiative: the creation of a joint Brazil-Haiti Youth, Technology, and Skills Program, which would draw on the expertise of leading Brazilian academic institutions. A wide range of high-priority sectors have been identified for the program, including information technology, artificial intelligence, software programming, cybersecurity, civil engineering, renewable energy, industrial maintenance, modern sustainable agriculture, public health, public administration, and territorial planning. Beyond technical skills training, the minister also called for expanding access to Brazilian university scholarships for Haitian students, increasing the number of short-term technical training placements, and expanding professional development opportunities for Haitian educators.
To codify the new direction of cooperation, Paulemon proposed the development of a formal strategic cooperation roadmap covering the 2026 to 2030 period, organized around five core mutually beneficial pillars. These pillars are: agriculture, food security, and agribusiness development; public health systems improvement and institutional capacity building; youth empowerment, vocational training, higher education cooperation, technology development, and innovation; renewable energy expansion, climate change resilience, and sustainable territorial development; and cultural exchange, creative industry growth, cross-border mobility, and expanded people-to-people connections.
Responding to the Haitian proposals, Ambassador Luís Guilherme Nascentes Da Silva reviewed the long history of successful collaborative projects between the two nations, highlighting existing initiatives including training programs for Haitian police and military personnel. He also confirmed Brazil’s readiness to support training for personnel that will back Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council, a key body for the country’s upcoming democratic processes. On the topic of territorial planning and land management, the ambassador noted that Brazil has decades of practical experience that it is prepared to share with Haitian authorities to support sustainable development.
The ambassador also announced that a high-level Brazilian technical delegation will travel to Haiti in the near future to share Brazil’s decades of policy experience and support Haitian officials in designing evidence-based strategies to tackle the persistent challenges of hunger and widespread poverty across the country. He added that Brazil welcomes Haiti’s request for 2026-2027 fiscal budget support, signaling positive momentum for advancing the request through bilateral channels.
By the conclusion of the meeting, both diplomatic parties reached a consensus to maintain regular, sustained high-level dialogue to breathe new momentum into Haiti-Brazil relations. Both sides committed to working collaboratively to translate the wide range of cooperation priorities discussed during the meeting into tangible, actionable projects that deliver tangible benefits for citizens of both nations in the years ahead.