Local businessmen and economists met for the talk “The Border: From Problem to Opportunity” at the INTEC university in Santo Domingo. The talk focused on competitive advantages in both countries and what is needed to create half a million jobs on the border that would significantly reduce Haitian poverty and migration.
Fernando Capellan, president of Grupo M and the Codevi free zone on the border with Haiti, called for more awareness locally of the importance of the country to act before the social and economic situation in Haiti spins out of control that could lead to catastrophic consequences for the Dominican Republic. Capellan talks the talk and walks, the walk. He has a factory in Ouanaminthe on the border with Haiti, where 12,500 persons are employed, including 1,000 Dominicans who cross the border every day. The factories produce caps, bed covers and electrical parts. He says more companies for assembling toys and footwear can be installed on the border. He says improvements to the port of Manzanillo would make all the difference.
Economist Roberto Despradel spoke of the importance of the Dominican Republic acting before the gap between the two countries widens even more. He said every decade the gap of the GDP between both countries has been doubling and much can be done to improve the border. He says Haiti buys 24% of its imports from the Dominican Republic.
Juan Vicini, of the Binational Quisqueya Economic Council says that no single Dominican business group has the capital to create the needed 500,000 jobs on the border. He is proposing an injection of US$75 million from Haiti and from the DR to build a base of US$150 million to advance on a pilot plan for the development of the border that involves not only installing companies but also building infrastructure to increase the quality of life in the region. He says this effort could result in creating 300,000 to 500,000 jobs in the next six years. “It is a matter of sitting down and aligning interests,” said Vicini.
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Diario Libre
22 November 2018
