The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haiti (CCIH) is a non-profit association having prerogatives of public power. The CCIH gathers companies and individuals engaged in commercial, industrial or commercial activities or services in Haiti and represents their interests. And it was once headed by a prominent Lebanese-Haitian.
Reginald Boulos was born in 1956 in Haiti Carlos and Aimee Boulos. Dr. Boulos’s Grandfather Boulos, was a Lebanese immigrant. He is one of 6 children: Frantz Boulos, Kathleen Boulos Weckering, Senator Rudolph Boulos, Marie Boulos, and Dr. Carlo Boulos.
All the Boulos siblings have achieved prominence across Haiti and excelled in their diverse fields. Reginald and his brother Carlo are medical doctors. They attended Port-au-Prince School of Medicine in Haiti where they earned their medical degrees in 1981.
Reginald furthered his education by graduating in 1982 with a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at the Tulane University School of Public Health in New Orleans (USA). He conducted research with an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University and also holds certification from the MIT Sloan School of Management for senior executives.
In 1996, Dr. Boulos left the medical practice to embark on a new career in business development. While working for his family’s business, Boulos Investment Group, he became the Chairman of Intercontinental Bank S.A. (1996–1998) and negotiated a merger with Sogebank, one of Haiti’s largest banks to date.
In 2003, Dr. Boulos took over and re-engineered one of the oldest daily newspapers in Haiti, Le Nouveau Matin. From 2000 to 2010, he created and developed the chain of supermarkets Delimart, as well as the leading car dealership Autoplaza, and the membership food discount store Megamart. He has also organized the renovation of a landmark Hotel in Haiti, El Rancho, as well as its re-opening.
@pourhaiticherieDr. Boulos is a longstanding champion of social development in Haiti. In 1992, he founded the Fond de Parrainage National (FPN), which today finances the education of close to 20,000 elementary school children in Haiti. He is still its Chairman.
From 1982 to 1996, he was Chair and General Manager of the Centers for Development and Health, a Haitian non-governmental organization that provides services and integrated health care to the populations of disadvantaged areas of the country since 1974.
@reginaldboulos_Under his leadership, the Center developed and managed the most comprehensive health program in Haiti, providing health and social services to 550,000 people. He is also the founder of Haiti’s Child Health Institute, a research institution and the Haitian Institute for Community Health, a training institution.
Dr. Boulos believed that the 2010 Haiti earthquake presented new opportunities for Haiti, especially for business growth and sustainable development. He proposed that donors allocate at least 50% of all funds and guarantees to formal Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and micro-enterprise financing, encourage broad ownership of larger companies, and implement SME set-asides, especially in the housing and construction sectors.
He continues to be active in the reconstruction of Haiti. He was the Business Sector Representative for the Haiti Reconstruction Commission, also known as the Commission Interimaire Pour La Reconstruction D’Haiti, which is co-chaired by former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.
Dr. Boulos has said that he envisions a new Haiti: one focused on job creation. In 2019, VOA News published an article titled: “Amid Perceived Power Vacuum, Dozens Vie to be Haiti’s Leader” in which it described Boulos as “among those vying to become president.”
His presidential ambition (although he has not announced his candidacy yet formally) according to Dr. Boulos is to “include the redistribution of wealth and a greater investment in agriculture,” if he’s elected. He launched in February 2019, a new political party “The Third Way Movement”, which has a goal to recruit one million members by the end of 2021. According to Dr. Boulos, “MTVAyiti is a center left party which promotes free entreprise but also redistribution of wealth through social services and opportunities for all”.
