When Deputy Marino Collante spoke about agreements reached between the government's economic team and the Chamber of Deputies Finance Commission to withdraw several items from the application of VAT (ITBIS) as reported in yesterday's Diario Libre (see DR1 Daily News 20 October 2005), Tax Department Director Juan Hernandez angrily denied the information. Other members of the economic team are also pressurizing Collante to withdraw his statements. Diario Libre interprets the reaction as an interest in having the political advantage of releasing the information at the government's will and reproduces the complete interview with Collante as evidence that their story was genuine.
According to Listin Diario, Hernandez stated that since the beginning of the discussion and the design of the tax reform, the government has estimated that the elimination of the 13% exchange rate commission on prices would be neutral. He said that all products are currently taxed with the 13% commission and after the reform there will be products that will not be affected, such as medicines and school supplies. Hernandez specified that the government only wants to recover the income it will stop receiving once the DR-CAFTA accord comes into effect.
El Caribe reports that a Tax Department source has indicated that the Chamber of Deputies Finance Commission agreed to keep coffee, sugar and cooking oil on the list of taxed products when they found out that these products represented 38.1% of the total expected to be collected when the application of VAT is extended.
According to a Tax Department source, the extension of VAT (ITBIS) to approximately 200 products which are not currently taxed, will provide collections of RD$11 billion annually. Of this total, three products - sugar, coffee, and cooking oil - represent RD$4.2 billion (38.1%). With the extension of VAT, the government seeks to recover approximately RD$32 billion it will stop receiving when DR-CAFTA comes into effect on 1 January 2006. El Caribe reports the sources of the income that will be lost include the elimination of 13% exchange rate commission, distorting taxes as well as tariff reductions. Products that will remain free of VAT are meat, powdered milk, evaporated milk, eggs, legumes, produce, fresh and refrigerated potatoes, fresh and refrigerated tomatoes, onions, garlic, unprocessed fruit, cereals, flours, oatmeal, rice, and wheat flour. Fuels to be excluded are kerosene, natural gas, propane gas, crude petroleum oil, aviation fuel, other gasoline, and electric energy.
According to an EFE press agency cable, the Paris Club, which consists of the main creditor countries, announced a reduction in the service of the DR's debt for a total of approximately US$137 million. The debt is being reduced from US$357 to US$222 million and loans awarded as public aid for development will have interest rates no higher than the contracts of origin. The rest of the debt will be subject to interest rates of defined markets based on the rate without risk of the particular currency, according to the Paris Club. Each creditor may also convert the DR's debt into projects that involve environmental protection, aid, investment, or other types of conversion. The Paris Club has linked its decision to reduce the service of debt to the DR's agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the "success of the re-structuring of the private debt" put into effect by the Dominican government. The creditor nations are convinced that the decision will contribute to improving the DR's economic perspectives and will reinforce its balance of payments. The Paris Club also praised the recuperation measures included in the country's economic and financial program.
Wilson Antonio Disla and Jose Elena Garcia Perez are two ex-convicts who were deported from the US after serving time in prison for drug trafficking. Diario Libre reports that both are now involved in the passport fraud case after getting false election certificates, which they used to obtain official passports. Yesterday, DR1 reported on Isidro Diaz Vasquez, another ex-convict, who was able to travel to Varadero, Cuba, with an official passport obtained fraudulently.
Listin Diario discovered that the ex-convicts served time in the US for drug trafficking and homicide. Bellerive in Washington, certificates annulled Vigny Bellerive, the priest who the Central Electoral Board (JCE) is accusing of registering 87 children of Haitian origin as his own in order to get Dominican birth certificates for them (see yesterday's DR1 Daily News) has been abroad for eight years and is currently living in Washington, according to the Diocese of Mao-Montecristi. Mao District Attorney German Bonilla told Diario Libre that the JCE has not ordered his office to begin investigations into the case. El Caribe reports that the JCE annulled the birth certificates of 90 Haitians registered by Vigny Bellerive, according to Judge Roberto Rosario. Rosario indicated that the declaration of these Haitian citizens as Dominicans was possible because there is no unification of the civil and electoral registries. He warned that actions like this would be controlled after the computerization of the civil and electoral registries is complete.
All preparations for the introduction of the DR-CAFTA agreement need to be completed by mid-December, according to US Trade Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, as reported by Diario Libre. This would allow President George W. Bush to notify the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and the agreement would become effective 1 January 2006 as planned. This was reported by Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso who met with Gutierrez in El Salvador on Thursday. Morales said that these requirements are applicable to all signatory nations and that if they are not complied with, the agreement would be postponed for the countries that are not ready. Morales stated that the DR has made considerable progress towards meeting these goals.
El Caribe reports that four Central American presidents, and official representatives of Costa Rica and the DR, as well as US Trade Representative Gutierrez, have agreed to make the 1 January 2006 deadline for the treaty a priority.
Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda Rancier, Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito, and Chief of Police major general Bernardo Santana Baez, agree that a judicial framework must be established to control the operation of discotheques and other types of nightclubs. According to Listin Diario, the opening days and hours should be controlled by this framework. Official studies have determined that most violence takes place in discotheques between Thursdays and Sundays. They are putting together a bill to be proposed in Congress as an Executive Branch initiative which would regulate all aspects of night time entertainment activities. Almeyda Rancier said that actions could not be taken until the judicial framework is in place but that authorities are keeping strict control to prevent people entering discotheques and other entertainment centers with arms.
Public hearings for the artificial island project scheduled for yesterday were suspended due to a lack of attendance. Only Eulogio Santaella, representing the promoting company, and three members of the Senate Finance Commission, who are in charge of studying the contract signed with the government, were present. New hearings have not been scheduled. In November, a visit is expected by the Spanish representatives of the project promoter, including architect Ricardo Bofill. A Canadian company, Santo Domingo Re-Development, Ltd., was awarded the concession contract authorizing it to start building an artificial island off the shore along Ave. George Washington (the Malecon) in Santo Domingo, a project with an estimated cost of US$450 million. Novo Mundo XXI will contain approximately two million square meters of land for development, 10,000 individual housing units, apartments, office buildings, malls, arts and cultural centers and a marina with docking space for 300 boats and yachts (see DR1 Daily News 16 June 2005).
The Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) acknowledged the DR, represented by President Leonel Fernandez, for its contribution to its strengthening and for having paid up its financial commitments with the regional organization, according to the Presidency Press Department. PARLACEN thanked the Dominican government for its commitment towards Central American integration and the strengthening of the organization. By keeping up with its commitments during trying economic times the DR is an example of the type of sacrifice it is willing to make in favor of regional integration. The Dominican state began participating in the Central American integration process in 1997.
Juan Marichal, the San Francisco Giants Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, traveled with the Ministry of Tourism delegation to participate in the Incentive Travel and Meeting Executives Show (ITME) held at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. During the event, the Ministry presented its current "Dominican Republic, Endless" campaign. Hundreds of participants visited the Dominican stand seeking autographed balls. The Dominican delegation was made up of Monserrat Despradel, advisor to the Minister of Tourism, and in charge of tourism offices abroad, Wendy Justo, director of the tourism office in Miami, and Leandro Reynoso and Giselle Castillo, from the Chicago tourist office.
Wednesday afternoon, Najayo, a beach located 10 kilometers from San Cristobal, and that used to belong exclusively to dictator Trujillo, became the latest location for the Miami Vice movie which is being filmed in different locations in the DR over the last two weeks. El Caribe reports that the presence of Jamie Foxx, winner of last year's best male actor Academy Award for his role in "Ray", attracted lots of people wanting to see him in person.
On 8 November, Centro Leon in Santiago will open an exhibition called "Voices and Visions, Selections of the Museo del Barrio's permanent collection". According to Clave Digital, the exhibition will feature a broad scope of media and cultural expressions, from pre-Columbian artifacts to contemporary Latin American art; Taino archaeological pieces, engravings by renowned Puerto Rican graphic artists, Mexican masks and textiles, as well as recent paintings and photographs. The "Museo del Barrio" was founded in 1969 in upper Manhattan within the Puerto Rican immigrant community. With time, the museum was transformed into a dynamic institution dedicated to the preservation, exhibition and interpretation of art and culture of all Latin American cultures represented in the United States.
DR1 Daily News readers may not be aware that by just posting on the "Today's Exchange Rate" thread in the Living section of the DR1 Forums, they can receive email alerts whenever there are rate changes. DR1 members who carry out exchange transactions regularly post the rates they get and where, which gives a reality check on what the actual rate is, beyond the official or listed bank rates. To receive these email alerts, readers need to register with the DR1 Forums, an automated and simple process. This thread can also be checked online, without the need to register. Check on the last post of the thread at http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26541
A link to this thread can also be found by scrolling down the dr1.com home page.
Players from 38 countries will be taking part in the IV ITTF World Cadet Challenge & World Junior Circuit Finals in Santo Domingo next week. The events will showcase young talented ping- pong athletes from all over the world. The ITTF WCC was set up as a stand alone event in 2002 and is now an established meeting point for six continental teams and two national teams; all loaded with the best young players the sport can provide. The defending European team champions, England, will participate in the boys' section, and Japan will have the honor for the girls. The event is scheduled for Sunday, 23 October through Monday, 31 October in Santo Domingo at the Parque del Este Table Tennis Pavilion, which was built for the Pan Am Games in 2003. The first twenty-two players, from Australia, New Zealand, Russia, England, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, arrived in the DR yesterday. The delegations were received at Las Americas Airport by the president of the organizing committee, business and sportsman Ramon Hipolito Mejia Gomez, and logistics coordinator Manuel Diaz Coronado.
http://www.ittf.com/ittf_juniors/Stories_detail.asp?ID=7479...
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