President Leonel Fernández is expected to return late tonight from his 10-day tour to Asia. He will make a final stop on his way back in Los Angeles to meet with Silicon Valley businessmen. During his trip, Fernández dedicated a large part of his time to the promotion of the Santo Domingo Cyberpark, a new high tech industrial park that would be the flagship of a new national development strategy. During the trip, President Fernández met with Masayoshi Son, president of SoftBank, one of the leading Internet companies in the world. He was received by Emperor Akihito of Japan, and by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. In Japan, he also met with businessmen from Honda and Toyota who promised to send exploratory missions to the DR. Fernández returns with commitments for US$45 million in donations from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and a Japan Bank International Cooperation (JBIC) offer to finance any Japanese company that would set up operations in the Santo Domingo Cyberpark. JBIC would also promote missions of small and medium-sized businessmen interested in investing in the DR in general. Likewise, that organization was reported to have offered to carry out studies to identify which Dominican products can be readily sold in Japan. In Singapore, President Fernández met with Dato Joseph Chong, a well-known Malaysian businessmen, and announced that a 105 megawatt barge of a Chong enterprise would arrive in the DR early in April for connection on line that same month. Mr. Chong also committed to invest US$20 million in the Santo Domingo Cyberpark. In Singapore, President Fernández toured high tech industrial parks and was received by President S. R. Nathan and Prime Minister Tong with whom he discussed strengthening of relations. In Bangkok, where he traveled later to attend the UNCTAD Conference, President Fernández met with the Prime Minister Thailand and toured the installations of high tech industrial parks. Hugo Guiliani, a former governor of the Central Bank, praised the results of the President’s trip. Nevertheless, he said that he laments that the trip has taken place at the end of the Fernández administration and not at the start. He feels President Fernández should have pursued trade and economic agreements with Japan prior to investing in Central American and Caribbean trade agreements. The presidential candidate that leads in the polls, Hipólito Mejía of the opposing Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, has said repeatedly that he believes that President Fernández is dreaming, and that the Santo Domingo Cyberpark is a utopia.
