People’s Republic of China ambassador in the Dominican Republic, Zhang Run, says that for months since he came to the Dominican Republic he has heard of the interest in the overhaul of Manzanillo deep seawater port in the northwest. The port is the closest to the United States. Today much cargo is still trucked to Santo Domingo for export.
In an interview with Pablo McKinney he said the government should call a tender for the project. In the first weeks after the signing of full diplomatic relations with China, it was known that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed relating to the construction of a mega-port and power installations in Manzanillo, on the north coast of the country. Not so long after, United States interests chilled the Chinese project.
Now Zhang Run told journalist McKinney that the Manzanillo port “is a little port” by Chinese standards. “There should be an international tender, public, free, transparent so that all countries and companies can participate, according to market, cooperation and alliances with local companies, with all kinds of technology,” he said.
Zhang said that the US$600 million loan approved by the Chinese government for the improvement of distribution lines depends on the Dominican government. He said it needs to be approved through legal mechanisms, including feasibility studies and a tender be called so that Chinese companies can participate. “The ball is in the court of the Dominican government,” he said.
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El Dia
14 January 2020