Home  Message Archive  2007  2006  2005  2004  2003  2002  2001  2000  1999  1998  Premium News Service

Daily News - 23 April 2001
President Mejia has a very successful Quebec Summit
The Dominican Republic's proposal for the Hispaniola Investment Fund met with the support of President George Bush at the Quebec Summit last week. President Mejia participated in a two-hour meeting with President Bush, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and President Jean Bertrand Aristide of Haiti to discuss the benefits of the plan.
The Dominican press covering the event described President Mejia's participation in the summit as very successful. His participation was recognized by his colleagues when he was chosen to give the closing speech of the summit.
The Hispaniola Fund Proposal is one of the most proactive and realistic proposals for Haitian development ever presented. It was originally proposed by lawyer Luis Heredia Bonetti as part of Dominican Week (http://www.rvhb.com) activities and since then has received the support of the Ministry of Foreign Relations and the Dominican and Haitian business communities.
El Siglo reports that President Bush agreed to send a delegation of businessmen and technicians to Haiti to evaluate projects that could be developed there.
President Mejia said the Dominican government is readying programs for the free zones, highways, irrigation systems and reforestation it would like to carry out with the funds.
Commenting on the meeting with Bush, President Mejia said: "The human side of President Bush was very interesting. He understands his role with the Americas and is very dedicated to us working together, which is very important."
Ministers brawl in Quebec
El Caribe newspaper reports that Minister of Industry and Commerce Angel Lockward and Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp had a bitter argument during the Quebec Summit. El Caribe sources say the discussion started when Minister Tolentino criticized Lockward for wanting to participate in a meeting to which only heads of state and Ministers of Foreign Relations had been invited.
President Ricardo Lagos of Chile visits
President Mejia returned last night from Quebec on the Chilean presidential plane with President Ricardo Lagos of Chile. They landed at 7:45 pm at the Las Americas International Airport. President Lagos is traveling with his wife, Luisa Duran de Lagos. Vice President Milagros Ortiz Bosch received them.
President Lagos is staying at the Hotel Embajador.
On their agenda for today:
At 9:45 am, President Mejia and President Lagos were scheduled to issue a joint statement and press conference. 10:25 am, floral offering at the Altar de la Patria. Visit to the Palacio Consistorial to receive the symbolic keys to the city from the Mayor of Santo Domingo. Lagos will also tour the colonial city of Santo Domingo. 2 pm, luncheon at the National Palace.
5 pm, opening of the Santo Domingo Book Fair which is dedicated to Chile this year.
US$25 million for congressional facilities
Hoy newspaper reports that the National Congress has plans to invest US$25 million (about RD$340 million) to build new offices for the 149 deputies, 30 senators and their advisors. Congress will be using financing from the Interamerican Development Bank (US$22 million) and the government of Taiwan (US$3 million) to construct two buildings of four floors each.
Old terminal at Las Americas rebuilt
Hoy newspaper reports that the old terminal of the Las Americas International Airport could be operational this December. The terminal was closed in 1992 after an unexplained fire damaged the area. The newspaper reports that Aerodom, which manages the airport, is installing new migration and administrative areas, luggage conveyors, air conditioning and elevators in the old terminal. The renovations will enable Las Americas to serve more airlines.
What happened with German tour operator?
Minister of Tourism Ramon Alfredo Bordas explained to Hoy newspaper the reshuffling that occurred in Germany and England that led to the discontinuation of the Puerto Plata flights of Britannia Airways (owned by Thomson of England) and the discontinuation of the low cost packages of FTI, a German wholesaler.
He said that LTU airline will now service tourists that FTI may book for the DR and who previously flew in on Britannia Airways. Recently ARA Hotels announced the closing of several small hotels in Sosua citing the unilateral cancellation of FTI bookings. Minister Bordas explained to Hoy newspaper what happened.
He said that Britannia offered lower prices than German charter flight competitors LTU, Condor and Hapag Lloyd. The airline specialized in serving tour operators that offered long haul and budget packages, such as FTI. "This wholesaler focused on the DR and promoted the country in a way that was effective in the short run but harmful in the long run to the interests of the DR and even their own interests," explained Bordas. He said the airline cheapened the average holiday package by more than 20%. Bordas said the company even offered packages that ranged from US$350 for a two-week stay.
He explained that Airtours of England purchased a significant part of FTI but the German wholesaler continued to operate independently, booking large numbers of vacationers at a loss. When this practice became known, it affected Airtours' shares on the market. This led the central office of Airtours in England to remove Mr. Gunz, the founder and chief executive of FTI, and assume the operations. The new management cut the programs to the DR due to the losses sustained by the below-cost prices the company used to attract large numbers of passengers.
Caoba Tours clarification
Mayo Gonzalez, legal counsel of Caoba Tours, wrote to DR1 Daily News to clarify that a statement about the closing of several hotels in Sosua was not made by Ruben Gutierrez of Caoba Tours. The story said that the hotels were closing due to more complaints than usual from German tourists regarding hotel services in the area. In a clarification to DR1 Daily News, Gonzalez wrote that "the one and only statement of Ruben Gutierrez to Listin Diario's journalist was that the problems confronted by ARA Hotels reflect the drop in demand for North Coast vacations by German vacationers."
Dominican consuls issue many visas for Haitians
El Siglo reports that the Dominican consuls in Haiti are issuing a record numbers of visas. The newspaper reports that consuls issue visas for a single entry (US$40) and also for multiple entry (US$200). The newspaper points out that a "significant portion of the cost of the visa is kept by the consuls." El Siglo says the visas are being issued despite the Ministry of Foreign Relations having an established limit of 50 visas per day.
El Siglo reports that Dominican consuls in Haiti have issued more than 43,000 visas in the past four months. Of the 43,929 Haitians who entered legally through Jimani, Dajabon and Elías Piña, 35,324 returned to Haiti and 7,000 did not.
Major conflict of interest did not prevent allocation of CDE to Spanish firm
The former administrator of the CDE, Ramon Perez Martinez, said it was "immoral" for the Spanish company Union Fenosa to participate in the tender for the purchase of the Dominican Electricity Corporation. Perez Martinez explained that Union Fenosa had a seven-year contract financed by the Interamerican Development Bank in which they consulted with management to suggest ways to make the state electricity corporation more efficient. He said the executives of the Spanish firm followed the financial and technical data of the CDE for seven years and this information was later used to prepare the tender to find 50-50 share holders. "In a certain way, they even held the mechanisms to put a price on the CDE," said Perez Martinez. He said the IDB was responsible for not warning the Commission for the Reform of Private Enterprise that Union Fenosa should not participate in the tender for ethical and professional reasons.
Union Fenosa was allotted two-thirds of the distribution of power in the DR.
The Dominican consumer experience with Union Fenosa's distributors couldn't be worse. The company has increased the CDE's practice of overcharging consumers to compensate for the company's lack of efficiency.
Editorial dedicated to Juan Bosch
Politician and author Juan Bosch is dying. Today, El Siglo dedicates its editorial to the Dominican Republic's leading storybook writer and former President. Bosch is known as a leading Latin American author for his "El Indio Manuel Sicurí," "La Mancha Indeleble," "La Mujer" and "Un Cuento de Navidad." Bosch is a founder of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano and the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana. Both parties have held power in the Republic. El Siglo recognizes Bosch as a "social educator" in the DR. Bosch has been suffering from Parkinson's Disease for several years now, but news reports say his condition is worsening.
Most profitable sector in DR: the banks
The top performing industry in the DR in 2000 was the banking industry. According to a news report in El Siglo, commercial banks made profits of RD$2,440 million in 2,000, which was 36.4% more than their earnings during the previous year. Bank profitability has been increasing year after year. Banks are one of the few industries in the DR that are not subject to competition from abroad.
In an analysis of the banking industry, El Siglo says that depositors are showing a preference for US dollars. Savings in US dollars are more than US$861 million, or 50% more than in 1999. Savings in Dominican pesos increased only 8.1%.
Local banks granted loans for RD$74,727 million, up 23.5%. Banks gave preference to foreign currency loans, consumer loans and credit card financing. Credits in foreign currency reached US$1,092.4 million, up 47.3% compared to 1999. Banks granted RD$8,149.7 million in consumer loans, up 45% compared to the previous year. Bank assets grew 25.2% in 2000, reaching RD$124,820 million. The five largest banks -- Reservas, Popular, Baninter, Bancredito and Progreso -- had assets of RD$96,644.1 million, or 77.4% of the total assets of banks operating in the DR.
Travel exhibition fair
Luis Felipe Aquino, organizer of the Caribbean Tourism Bourse, announces the fair will take place this weekend at the Dominican Fiesta Hotel. The trade show and travel exhibition opens Wednesday, 25 April and closes on Saturday, 28 April. Coming for the event are exhibitors from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Aruba, Curaçao and Haiti. The closing party will take place in the Ferry del Caribe, the ferry that travels between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
Home  Message Archive  2007  2006  2005  2004  2003  2002  2001  2000  1999  1998  Premium News Service

The contents of this webpage are copyright © 1996-2008.  DR1. All Rights Reserved.