2008 – Page 214

President Leonel Fernandez is continuing a series of trips that started in El Salvador last week, and now he is off to Miami, Madrid, Rome and Barcelona for meetings. Fernandez will be attending the World Food Summit in Rome, sponsored by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The summit will deal with Food, …

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Negotiations between the Dominican government, owner of 50% of the shares in the Dominican National Refinery (Refidomsa), and the Shell Company, the owner of the other 50% have concluded. According to several newspapers, the final price for the Shell holdings is placed at US$110 million that reportedly would be covered by earnings yet to have …

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The Office of the National Coordinator for European Funds (ONFED) announces that the European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a EUR20,000,000 loan, equivalent to RD$1.1 billion pesos. The funds will be managed by the Banco Ademi, the Dominican Association for the Development of Women (Adopem), and the Development Fund (Fundesa). The loan, to be paid …

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Economist Roberto Despradel encourages Dominican exporters to take advantage of its geographic position to export to the Greater Caribbean marketplace. In a feature in El Caribe today, he comments how the area covers 25 countries of varying size, each with their own pecularities. From the larger Central American nations to the tiny Leeward and Windward …

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Caribbean expert David Jessop says that the DR stands to be hit the hardest by the fuel crisis that is affecting the airline industry. According to Jessop, all around the world the biggest airlines are reducing services, increasing fares, levying surcharges and abandoning destinations as the cost of fuel continues to rise. “According to industry …

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Airport Department director Andres Van der Horst and Civil Aviation Institute director Jose Tomas Perez have told El Caribe that they are monitoring the airline situation and flight reductions with a view to putting forward solutions aimed at helping compensate airlines for the increases in costs. Vanderhorst, a former minister of Tourism, acknowledged the crucial …

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The president of the National Council for Private Business (Conep), Lisandro Macarrulla, highlights the importance of the findings of the 2008 United Nations Human Development Report. He says the report should enable the nation to create an inventory of priorities that need to be addressed. Macarrulla hopes the report will serve as a catalyst for …

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