ABSTRACT
The export-led economic development strategy that the international development agencies have devised for Haiti requires complementary growth between the agricultural and industrial sectors. The international agencies believe that Haiti can rely on its assembly industry to provide new jobs for the migrants and to contribute foreign exchange earnings that Haiti will need both to pay for increased imports and to stimulate additional industrial development. Impressed by the industry's initial expansion, the international agencies seem to have exaggerated both its potential for continued growth and the benefits which urban workers can obtain from assembly employment. Despite the risks, electrical/electronic assembly in Haiti often offers an especially high rate of profit and continues to attract new investors. The shift in agricultural production from domestic to export crops is expected to result in an increase of both rural-urban migration and the importation of foods and other goods not produced in Haiti.
