Against a backdrop of ongoing political and humanitarian instability in Haiti, senior officials from both the Caribbean nation and Italy gathered for a high-profile discussion at Italy’s 2026 Rimini Meeting on August 24, opening a new pathway toward deepened bilateral cooperation. Haitian Foreign Minister Raina Forbin joined the panel, titled “Haiti and the strength to rise again”, virtually, while the event was organized by Associazione Volontari per il Servizio Internazionale (AVSI), an Italian international volunteer service organization. The discussion was moderated by Stefano Gatti, Director General for Development Cooperation at Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and featured a lineup of senior stakeholders including Italian Undersecretary of State Massimo Dell’Utri, Haitian Ambassador to Italy Gandy Thomas, FAO Deputy Director-General Maurizio Martina, and AVSI’s Haiti representative Annalisa Costanzo.
In her address to the panel, Minister Forbin laid out the core governing priorities of the current administration led by Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. The government’s immediate and long-term agenda centers on four critical pillars: reestablishing widespread national security and full state authority across the country, holding inclusive democratic elections to legitimize governing institutions, kickstarting broad economic recovery after years of contraction, and scaling up responses to the country’s worsening humanitarian emergency. She emphasized that the administration is actively pursuing coordinated efforts to pull Haiti out of its protracted crisis and lay the foundation for long-term, sustainable stability.
Minister Forbin used the platform to formally call for a strengthened bilateral partnership between Haiti and Italy, outlining a wide range of high-priority sectors for collaborative action. These proposed areas of cooperation include security sector support, capacity building for Haitian government institutions, sustainable agricultural development, expanded vocational training programs for the country’s large youth population, support for growing small and medium-sized enterprises, cross-border skills transfer, and attraction of productive foreign direct investment from Italian firms.
The participation of top-ranking Italian government officials in the discussion and the substantive nature of the talks signal a shared commitment to advancing bilateral dialogue and collaboration between the two nations. From Italy’s perspective, Haiti offers unique strategic value: its central location in the Caribbean, close proximity to major North and South American markets, large young population, expansive global diaspora network, and untapped economic potential position the country as a strategic gateway for Italian businesses, universities, cultural institutions, and development cooperation initiatives to expand their footprint across the broader Caribbean and Latin American region.
Rather than framing Haiti solely through the lens of its well-documented challenges, Minister Forbin repositioned the country as an emerging market of opportunity and a reliable long-term strategic partner. She emphasized that a deepened partnership between Haiti and Italy would deliver mutual benefits to both nations, opening a new chapter in bilateral diplomatic and economic relations.