President Luis Abinader delivered the state of the nation address on Monday, 27 February 2023, on occasion of the 179th anniversary of the national independence. He spoke from the National Assembly, in the presence of senators and deputies, diplomats and special guests.
This was the third time that President Abinader addressed the National Assembly to tell the nation what his government has done and is working on for the upcoming months. The President basically summarized actions his government has already communicated, using the extensive government propaganda channels. He called for the passing of a generalized wage increase. The opposition described the speech as a reelection call.
President Luis Abinader has yet to formally announce he will seek the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) candidacy in the party candidate selection procedure, scheduled to be held in October 2023.
The speech was the longest since Abinader began his administration in August 2020. He spoke for two hours and 38 minutes, as reported in Diario Libre. The newspaper highlighted the speech was 18,085 words long. The President began his speech at 10:38am and concluded at 1:16pm, reported Diario Libre.
President Luis Abinader spoke of government actions that has led the country to a 4.9% Gross Domestic Product annual growth of 4.9%, higher than the Latin American average. The World Tourism Organization and the IMF have had praise for the Dominican government actions.
Abinader said that the Dominican Republic is among the countries with the highest economic growth in the world in 2022 and its economy is one of the most dynamic in Latin America. In his state of the nation speech before the National Assembly, President Abinader stated that this has been possible due to the application of coherent institutional policy.
He highlighted that the country closed 2022 with the highest level of international foreign exchange reserves ever, with US$14.43 billion and a rare currency appreciation of 2%.
By the end of 2022, the consolidated debt to GDP ratio was 59.1%. When we took office in August 2020, this indicator was 61%, he stated.
He spoke of his pro-business government efforts leading the country to new highs in tourism, manufacturing, exports and foreign investment. He spoke of the expansion of vocational training programs through Infotep and the Technology Institute of the Americas (Itla).
He said the government built 271 infrastructure works investing RD$90.39 billion in 2022, and this year 1,581 works are under construction.
He mentioned these new road works to be completed in 2023:
• Azua bypass;
• Las Américas overpasses in Andrés, Boca Chica;
• Av. Ecológica, to Av. Juan Pablo II and its distributor;
• Sabaneta–Martin García road;
• Full renovation of the Joaquín Balaguer highway from Santiago to Navarrete;
• Fourth phase of Santiago’s bypass road;
• Guazumal-Hermanas Mirabal – Tamboril highway;
• Higo de Agua – Palo Alto highway;
• Palo Verde – La 70 highway.
• The San Francisco de Macorís bypass;
• The expansion of the San Isidro highway in eastern Santo Domingo;
• Renovations to the Barahona-Enriquillo road;
• The reconstruction of the Bayaguana-El Puerto road;
• Completion of the Monte Plata-Chirino road;
• Renovations to the Hato Mayor-Sabana de La Mar road;
• Construction of the Avenida Hípica;
• Construction of the solutions to Km 9 of the Duarte highway
• Reconstruction of the Samaná-Las Galeras road.
He spoke of continuing works initiated in the past government – Santiago monorail mass transit system, Los Alcarrizos skylift, new Santo Domingo metro line, dozens of public hospital renovations. He mentioned the Amber Highway from Santiago to Puerto Plata and the Pedernales international airport, the Manzanillo port and power plant complex are in the works, too.
He dedicated long paragraphs to tell what his government is doing to reform the National Police force, to the equipping of the military to exercise its role on the border with Haiti. On the other hand, he called for a national pact to deal with the burden of the Haitian crisis and its impact in the Dominican Republic.
He concluded his long speech insisting he had brought change to the country. He motivated Dominicans to forge ahead. “Let us continue to be proud to be Dominicans, because every day we move forward. Let us continue with optimism, with confidence in the future. Confident that together, as always, there will be no challenge that we cannot overcome,” said the President.
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Noticias SIN
28 February 2023