President Leonel Fernández announced on 28 April in Higüey, the capital of the La Altagracia province, that the government is at present negotiating a US$60 million loan from the World Bank that would be used to improve the infrastructure in the East. The President said that the money would be used to build a new highway from Higüey to the East Coast hotel strip (Punta Cana-Bavaro-Macao). Moreover, the loan would also fund the improvements and expansion of the sewage and potable water facilities in the area. President Fernández said that the tourism industry, which produced US$2,000 million last year, is the top priority of the nation. Tourism is the leading generator of hard currency. The President was in the East to endorse the candidates for municipal and congressional posts of that area that are running for the government party, the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD). The East Coast is the fastest growing tourism region in the Dominican Republic, with around 12,000 hotel rooms, most the result of foreign investment.
