The Listin Diario reports that the National Council of Business (CONEP) says confidence must be restored for the business sector to create new jobs. The position of the CONEP group of business leaders was placed before PLD candidate Leonel Fernandez in the first of a series of meetings between the business community and the Presidential candidates. Future sessions will feature Hipolito Mejia and Eduardo Estrella.
Among other proposals, CONEP insisted upon the removal of the tax distortions they say undermine the competitiveness of Dominican businesses in this era of globalization. Elena Viyella de Paliza, the CONEP president, told Fernandez that there were a lot of distortions to be resolved and many challenges to face, but that above all, the business community wants to find solutions to the problems facing the country in order to be able to create new jobs and a more dynamic economy. Also present at the meeting was Lisandro Macarrulla, the head of the Dominican Industrial Association (AIRD). Macarrulla said that the goals stated by Fernandez were certainly aimed at solving some of the issues facing the business community.