President Hipolito Mejia’s overseas trip extended to the Middle East yesterday. The Israeli agriculture minister met President Mejia and his entourage at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday afternoon. The two-day schedule included a visit to an agricultural fair yesterday, and meetings today in Jerusalem with Israeli President Moshe Katsav, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and former PM Shimon Peres. On the presidential agenda are also visits to the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem and lunch with Israeli business leaders. It is already being reported that Israel will contribute funds for agricultural, forestry and social development projects in the border regions of the DR, with the aim of preventing the mass migration of impoverished rural dwellers to the cities. The first phase of this program, which includes organizing co-operatives, providing irrigation, promoting agricultural diversification and goat-rearing, is estimated at US$7 million.
On Friday, the President will make a brief visit to Jordan, where he will be received by King Abdullah. Mejia is due to return to the Dominican Republic on 24 September with stopovers on the way home in the Spanish province of Navarra and Holland.