2004 – Page 37

The deputy and technical directors of the Customs department, Luis Sanchez and Eduardo Rodriguez, are disputing claims being made by three companies operating along the Haitian border area. These businesses were taking advantage of Law 28-01, which promotes border development and grants certain duty exemptions, by blurring the definitions between raw materials and finished goods, …

Read more…

Johnny Bernal, former president of the National Hotel & Restaurant Association, said that the present levels of the US dollar, currently at a rate of less than RD$30 to US$1, are affecting the competitiveness of the tourism sector. Furthermore, Freddy Ortiz, the president of the Association of Remittance Companies (Aderedi), in the same interview with …

Read more…

Poultry producers will reportedly have more than 14.2 million chickens for December, which will equal about 60 million pounds of white meat, according to the National Council of Farm Production (Conaprope). The body says these numbers will translate into cheaper prices of the popular food product in time for Christmas. Radhames Silverio said that a …

Read more…

The Financial Times, Europe’s prime source of printed economic news, reports on the capital markets in the Dominican Republic and the present restructuring of the economy following the change of government. The article focuses on how prices of the DR’s US$1.1 billion in sovereign bonds have rallied as investors show renewed confidence in the country’s …

Read more…

Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso said that the DR would cast its vote for the Organization of American States (OAS) secretary general according to the Central American consensus. The secretary general position has been vacant since former Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez resigned in October to answer to charges of corruption in that …

Read more…

Higher Education Minister Ligia Amada Melo says that Dominicans can apply for master or doctoral studies in the sciences offered by the Rockefeller University in New York City. The scholarships will cover US$23,600 a year of tuition. For more information, contact the department of science and technology of the Ministry of Higher Education, Tel. 533-3381, …

Read more…

Public Health Minister Sabino Baez promised that his department, “even if it is for the first time,” would take issue with the death of Maria de los Angeles, who died following a surgical procedure on 1 November, as reported in El Caribe newspaper. He said that the National Bioethics Commission, presided over by lawyer and …

Read more…

President Leonel Fernandez has requested congressional approval of several loans. These are: US$37 million from the IDB for the construction of housing under the Instituto Nacional de la Vivienda; US$7.3 million to fund technical assistance for the power sector; US$12.5 from the World Bank to fund a technical assistance program for the financial sector; US$6 …

Read more…

Labor Minister Jose Ramon Fadul will take his time deciding on the validity of the National Salaries Commission resolution that recommends a wage increase for those earning above the legal minimum levels. Fadul, who is in Switzerland attending International Labor Organization meetings, said he would return to the DR on Thursday. While there is a …

Read more…

Clave Digital, an online news service, writes that the considerable appreciation of the peso is convenient to government finances. The publication explains that the economic authorities are letting the peso climb in order to reduce the pesos needed to meet upcoming financial debt obligations in foreign currency. These include the filling of the RD$9 billion …

Read more…