President Leonel Fernandez told members of his cabinet and invited businessmen that met at the Presidential Palace yesterday for a government council meeting that the competition comes from abroad, not from within. He spoke on occasion of a presentation made by the National Competitiveness Council. He discarded that the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement will be the solution to local problems, and called it but a “ticket that allows us to play the game.” He said the DR needs an action plan and to be aware that the country is at a new phase of development that demands continued interconnection with the world to stimulate local innovating. Mexican consultant Rene Villareal spoke about the National Competitiveness Plan that will be prepared this year to define how the country can best take advantage of the new opportunities in the market.