Mexican President Felipe Calderon began Thursday his one-day official visit to Haiti to deepen bilateral relations and launch a cooperation program for Haiti's recovery.

In talks with his Haitian counterpart Michel Martelly, Calderon pledged to promote relations with Haiti and help it in reconstruction.

"We will make our countries stronger, more united and capable to face challenges in the new century," said Calderon in his first visit to Haiti.

Calderon announced the reactivation of a binational chamber of commerce to promote Mexican investments in Haiti.

He promised that Mexico will give Haiti 8 million U.S. dollars to build 15 public markets and 12 clinics, an orphanage and trade school, among other infrastructure projects.

Mexico will also offer Haiti a clean water emergency supply network through 10,000-liter tanks, he added.

Calderon said his country has already provided for Haiti 300 student scholarships worth 12 million U.S. dollars and reconstructed a hospital in the town of Gonaives, 180 km north of the capital of Port-au-Prince.

For his part, Martelly expressed gratitude to Calderon for the help Mexico has given after the 2010 devastating earthquake, which killed more than 220,000 people, left 1.3 million homeless and caused 7.9 billion dollars in material damage.

So far, Mexico has contributed 23 million dollars for development projects and delivered 60,000 shelter tents for the homeless people, Martelly noted.

After the visit, Calderon will travel to Cartagena, Colombia to attend the 6th Summit of the Americas this weekend.