In Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince, Plastech Solutions is doing a brisk trade, even as the nation stands on the verge of total collapse.

CEO Maulik Radia says his American company has been manufacturing and recycling plastics in the violence-torn country with the support of IDB Invest for the past four years.

The private sector arm of the InterAmerican Development Bank has lent over $12 million to expand Radia’s business. During this period, its workforce has increased four-fold to 800 and trade has grown by 30%, Radia told LatinFinance.

His fortunes contrast starkly with that of the Caribbean nation. Criminal groups have gradually gained control of much of its territory, including Port-au-Prince, and are now seeking to overthrow the government, threatening even more chaos and violence, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

“Everything we do gets impacted but we try to keep a low profile and we do a lot of social activities in our neighborhood. You do make yourself a good corporate citizen in the area and people do not bother you,” Indian-born Radia said.

BORDER CLOSED

He spoke on the sidelines of the IDB meeting in Punta Cana in Dominican Republic, which shares the same Caribbean island as Haiti. Their land border is currently closed and Radia said he was only be able to attend the event because he was flying from the US.

The IDB has been disbursing an average of $120 million annually to Haiti in recent years to support local institutions and NGOs. Social assistance and cash transfer programs currently account for about 30% of its disbursements, as opposed to less than 10% a few years ago, a source said. Nearly half the population suffers from food insecurity, according to the development bank.

Some of the international humanitarian aid that was channeled to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake is now being diverted to Ukraine or Gaza, according to one observer.

IDB has yet to decide whether to to set up a new aid facility for the coming years.

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