© Reuters. Abinader: “This is the best time to invest in Latin America”
Santo Domingo, Mar 24 (.).- The President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, assured this Friday that “this is the best time” to invest in the country and in Latin America, despite the uncertainties and economic fluctuations on the international scene .
During the closing of the XIV edition of the Ibero-American Business Meeting, which is being held in Santo Domingo, Abinader indicated that “in these moments of little certainty, the Government has to provide certainty so that there is greater investment.”
“This is the best time to invest in the country, in these difficult times,” he emphasized.
The Head of State of the Dominican Republic acknowledged that he has faced very difficult moments in his administration, to which have been added the problems created by the instability of the neighboring country of Haiti.
Abinader affirmed that the combination between creating jobs and opportunities “is the best social project.”
In this sense, the president explained that during his administration the aid and beneficiaries of social programs have doubled to reach 1.5 million, which has allowed reducing general poverty to 19%.
As an example, he gave the 38,000 million pesos (650 million euros) in subsidies on fuels and fertilizers such as urea that have allowed, according to Abinader, agricultural production to guarantee food security for the country.
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR CONSENSUS
He also stressed that one of the keys for the Dominican Republic to weather the storm of the pandemic and the global economic crisis has been “the perfect conversation and consensus between the business community and the Government.”
“I can say that the Dominican business community has had a conscience and a social commitment. We established a price table between the official and private sectors to see how each one made their sacrifice so that inflation did not reach double digits,” Abinader recalled.
He advocated facilitating investments with an honest and transparent administration, through the reduction of bureaucracy and levels of corruption.
FORUM WITH 1,500 ENTREPRENEURS
Abinader spoke in this regard in an act where his Ecuadorian counterparts, Guillermo Lasso; and from Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, as well as the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Before an audience of some 1,500 businessmen, the event was attended by King Felipe VI of Spain; and was moderated by the head of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (Segib), the Chilean Andrés Allamand.
The XIV edition of the Ibero-American Business Meeting focused on promoting productive and sustainable businesses in the digital age through investment, sustainability, climate action, connectivity, digital transformation, tourism, infrastructure, energy, ecological transition and gender equality.
It was the prelude to the XXVIII Ibero-American Summit, where the heads of State and Government will address solutions for food security, digital rights and sustainability, among other thematic axes that mark this event, the first face-to-face since 2019.
(Photo / Video)
