President Luis Abinader is in Madrid for meetings to promote the tourism industry, investment and meet with the Dominican community in Spain. He arrived early, on 17 January 2022 for a packed agenda before being present for the opening of the Dominican stand during the inauguration of the Spanish travel fair, Fitur. The Dominican Republic is country partner this year.
On his first day of work in the Spanish capital, President Luis Abinader highlighted the importance of the International Tourism Fair (Fitur 2022) as an event to boost this sector and for the country to continue attracting foreign visitors to its many tourism destinations.
“We are going to reach many important agreements, we are going to have meetings with different airlines such as Air Transat of Canada and other airlines from all over Europe to guarantee to them that they must continue, that they can continue and that they will count on us and on the support of resources for promotion and to continue with their plans to bring tourists to Puerto Plata and Samaná,” said the President when interviewed by traveling Dominican journalists in Madrid.
At the same time, he pointed out that many benefits will be obtained for the country because the fair is dedicated to the Dominican Republic “at a moment that is extremely important because tourism will be relaunched throughout the world.” He pointed out Fitur is the leading fair for the receptive and outbound markets of Ibero-America.
He recalled that the tourism sector is of great importance for the creation of jobs, providing three indirect jobs for every direct one.
Among other activities, he will hold meetings with Spanish authorities, Dominican businessmen based in Spain and Dominican banking authorities participating in Fitur. He will be presenting the Master Plan for the Cabo Rojo Tourism Development Project in Pedernales, an activity coordinated by the Public-Private Partnerships Agency.
In his interest to achieve more investments and strengthen the economic recovery of the Dominican Republic, the President attended the presentation of the strategic alliance between Grupo Piñero, IDB Invest and Banco Popular Dominicano through which a new sustainable financing of up to US$200 million was materialized for investments in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. Tourism Minister David Collado emphasized that the presence of the President in this alliance is a clear sign that the Dominican Republic protects, cares for and supports foreign investment.
Parallel to the agreement, Grupo Piñero will work with IDB Invest in a technical advisory project for works within the Integral Coastal Management Plan framework. In this way, the collaboration will allow the company to design and implement measures and investments with the aim of contributing to reducing the impact of climate change. The project will be developed in Grupo Piñero’s properties located in La Romana, Dominican Republic.
On Monday, President Abinader held a meeting with leaders of the different European branches of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). He urged them to continue working in favor of the citizens, creating links with the population to help bring solutions to their problems.
His first official activity upon arrival to Madrid was a visit to the headquarters of the Dominican Embassy in Spain for a lunch with Dominican Ambassador Juan Bolívar Díaz. Later he was at the Atlético de Madrid stadium, Wanda Metropolitano, where the Dominican flag was raised. The President also received an Atlético de Madrid sports jersey.
On 19 January, President Abinader will attend the inauguration of the 42nd edition of Fitur, where 107 countries and almost 7,000 companies are represented this year.
Also on his agenda in Spain are meetings with King of Spain Felipe VI, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez and the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida.
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Presidency
18 January 2022