President Leonel Fernández, in the presence of Minister of Foreign Relations of Taiwan, Jason Hu, broke ground yesterday for the construction of what will be the first high tech industrial park in the Caribbean, the Santo Domingo Cyberpark. The park is conceived as a model for other advanced technology parks that would be built throughout the DR. President Fernández explained that the park’s construction is part of a national strategy to insert the DR into the development of the high tech industry, informatics, electronics and telecommunications. This strategy has evolved especially at a time when trade agreements impede the further development of the apparel industry in the DR. The high tech park is envisioned as a facility to host manufacturers of computer software and hardware, electronic assembly and manufacturing, medical and pharmaceutical items, as well as service and information technology firms, telecommunications firms, data capture and conversion operations, electronic media and Internet-related entrepreneurs, and software operations. Two "intelligent" office buildings, the center for high tech education, a food court, a shopping mall, and manufacturing plants will be located in the park. The government of Taiwan is contributing US$15 million to the facility. Of these US$10 million will go for equipping the Instituto Tecnológico de las Américas, the high tech learning center. Fernández said the new park will provide new opportunities for the nation’s development, complementing already working free zones. He said the construction of the park is possible because of the country’s sustained economic growth and political stability. Speaking during the ceremony, Minister Jason C. Hu said the country’s monetary stability, competent labor and sure export markets make investing here attractive to Taiwanese. Traveling with him are 16 businessmen that have shown an interest in investing in the park. Eddy Martinez, executive director of the Office for the Promotion of Investments (OPI-DR) said that Codetel, Tricom, GTE, Motorola, American Multiplexer (from Silicon Valley, California) have committed to open plants in the new park. The park is going up at Km. 27 of the Las Americas Highway, about five minutes from the Las Americas International Airport. The plans for the park were drawn up by Reynolds, Smith & Hills and Ivey, Harris & Walls of the United States, with the participation of Sercitec, as the local counterpart. Also attending the ceremony was Vice President Jaime David Fernández.
