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Heineken plans to build hospitals in Haiti

Heineken, the world’s third biggest brewery, is hatching plans to build hospitals and schools in crisis-torn Haiti. The move demonstrates the growing role of the private sector, particularly the consumer goods industry, in taking on public sector roles in poorer countries. Food and drink makers as well as soft commodity traders have been at the forefront of efforts to train farmers and improve social infrastructure, gaining what brewer SABMiller calls “licence to operate”, as well as fostering relations with governments and improving the lot of future consumers. Heineken has already established HIV/Aids clinics in parts of Africa, but wants to go further by utilising corporate skills such as project management and financial budgeting to carry out the work typically left to multilateral institutions and non-governmental organisations. The Netherlands-based brewer is to meet Haiti’s president Michael Martelly as well as the Clinton Global Initiative to formulate plans for building schools and hospitals. “The biggest problem for the World Bank and CGI is how their projects are managed in the country,” said John Nicolson, Heineken’s president for the Americas. “Corporates have audit structures and management that can run and cost projects well. That’s what corporations could add to charities.” More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Haiti | Company: Heineken, Nestlé, SABMiller | Source: Financial Times via Daily CSR Media Briefing

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