1999 – Page 245

The UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will hold a national seminar on intellectual property (IP) in Santo Domingo on January 27-28. The seminar, organized in cooperation with the DR’s Industry and Commerce Ministry, will be held in the Plaza Naco Hotel 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on the 27th, and 9:00 am until 1:00 …

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The National Council of Superior Education (CONES) yesterday presented to officials of the DR’s universities its plans for the first full national evaluation of the institutions’ fitness since 1993. The object of the comprehensive evaluation will be to determine whether or not the universities are meeting their accreditation requirements. As a result of the last …

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President Leonel Fern?ndez had the first full day of his European tour yesterday, the longest trip of his Presidency. He leads a delegation of 30 – 16 high-ranking officials and 14 "special guests" (such as Baninter President Ram?n B?ez Figueroa and National Council of Private Enterprise head Celso Marranzini) Officials accompanying the President include Foreign …

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President Fern?ndez’s European tour today will start to yield its first tangible fruits. Nine bilateral accords are to be signed today and tomorrow. The agreements to be signed today grabbing the most headlines in Santo Domingo involve (1) a letter of intent to purchase five helicopters for the Dominican Air Force (FAD); (2) a financing …

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Foreign Minister Eduardo Latorre revealed yesterday that President Fern?ndez’s has invited Puerto Rican Governor Rossell? to make an official visit in March and to attend as an official observer at the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) meeting to be held in Santo Domingo in April. The invitation was extended and accepted during the very brief …

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Another official of the Dominican Air Force (FAD), Aldeso Antonio Mart?nez, was questioned yesterday about the 1994 disappearance (and presumed murder) of Professor Narciso Gonz?lez ("Narcisazo"), a vocal critic of then-President Joaqu?n Balaguer. Antonio Mart?nez was one of the officials on-duty the night that the professor was allegedly abducted and taken to A-2, the intelligence …

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The President of the National Federation of Commercial Retailers of Provisions (FENACODEPRO), Giovany Leyba, called on wholesalers and retailers alike to boycott products which try to raise their prices without clear justification. He noted that a number of products are arriving at retailers with price hikes of 10%, without any explanation of the need for …

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The Dominican Agro-Industry Board (JAD) yesterday urged the Dominican Government to eliminate the controversial Price Stabilization Institute (INESPRE) in favor of two new agencies and revival of the Agro-Fishery Bourse (trading market). Originally charged with ensuring stable prices for certain Dominican staples, INESPRE has been used aggressively by the Fern?ndez Administration to import cheap agricultural …

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The Senate approved yesterday a law creating a National Rice Institute (INA) to be located in Nagua. Beginning in the year 2000 the INA will have an annual budget of RD$100 million. The INA, like the Coffee Institute before it, is intended to promote Dominican production of the commodity and improve its quality.

An industrial park located in Santo Domingo’s Invivienda sector was devastated by an early-morning fire yesterday. The Santo Domingo Fire Corps had to call in ten units to combat the blaze at about 5:00 am. It took nearly three hours to bring under control, in part because the firemen lost use of water for awhile …

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