BRASILIA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Brazil and the United States ratified their plan on Thursday to establish industrial plants in Haiti. This would enable the duty-free export of products to both countries and thus support Haiti's reconstruction.

    During a meeting in the Foreign Ministry's Itamaraty Palace, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and U.S. Commerce representative Ronald Kirk agreed to advance the implementation of the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity (HOPE) program created by the United States.

    The two countries are part of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti, which was initially established to stop the social and political crisis in 2004.

    Amorim told Xinhua in a press conference that the fundamental motivation of this initiative was humanitarian, "to aid Haiti's economic development through sustainable production activity."

    This mechanism would allow Brazilian companies in Haiti to export products to the United States without paying customs fees, and vice versa.

    The agreement would benefit Haiti as well as Brazilian and U.S. companies, Amorim added.

    On Thursday morning, President of the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry (CNI) Armando Monteiro Neto said the Brazilian textile companies were interested in establishing themselves in Haiti under the framework of the HOPE program.

    The Brazilian industries also requested an adjustment to the HOPE program, such as giving Brazil the status of "beneficiary."

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