Haiti's new envoy to Washington, Paul Altidor, poses with US President Barack Obama in this Oval Office photo.

WASHINGTON, May 3, CMC – Haiti’s new ambassador to the United States, Paul Altidor, on Wednesday presented his letter of credentials to United States President Barack Obama.

Altidor, a 39-year-old investment banker and economist, was among several new foreign envoys who presented their credentials in a White House ceremony.

He was vice president of programmes and investments for the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, established at Obama’s urging after the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti, to help with the country’s reconstruction. The fund is chaired by former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Before joining the Fund, Altidor worked at the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. He advised foreign governments on public-private partnerships, and played a key role in the deal leading to the investment by communist Vietnam’s Viettel in Haiti’s state-owned telephone company.

“His contributions to the Fund, particularly in identifying catalytic investment opportunities for long-term reconstruction, have been integral to our work helping Haiti chart its own successful future,” said Gary Edson, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund CEO, in a statement.

He said Altidor was instrumental in bringing to Haiti a new seven-million-US-dollar science wing for the State University of Haiti.

Edson said Altidor also opened a 900,000-dollar Centre for Entrepreneurship at private Quisqueya University in Port-au-Prince. Funded by Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, the centre is operated in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Altidor holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston College, and a master’s degree in international development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He also pursued graduate studies in economics and law in France, according to his curriculum vitae.