2006 – Page 53

Regardless of whether or not industrialists are in favor of a bilateral free trade agreement with Taiwan, the Taiwanese ambassador said that talks, which formally began on 24 October, would continue as planned. El Caribe newspaper points out that last month Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso received letters from a number of organizations representing …

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Dominican engineering companies are building many of the new hotels under construction in the Caribbean as they export innovative construction technologies, as reported in Hoy newspaper. Asonahores president Luis Rafael Lopez,says that Dominican engineers are building 3,000 of 5,000 new hotel rooms in Jamaica. The DR is the Caribbean nation with the most hotel rooms, …

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Dominican swimmer Marcos Diaz is attempting his toughest challenge yet by attempting to swim a 50-kilometer stretch from Boca Chica to Santo Domingo’s Malecon on 3 December, which if successful would break an international record. Diario Libre reports that the swim will be the longest of his career. The world-class swimmer said that he wanted …

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The daily news will not be updated on Monday, 6 November, which is a national holiday. The DR will be celebrating, Constitution Day. News of the weekend and Monday itself will be compiled for the Tuesday, 7 November issue. Any major breaking news will be posted on the DR1 Forums at http://www.dr1.com/forums that are updated …

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President Leonel Fernandez said yesterday that the Dominican Republic plans to increase trade relations with the US state of Florida, especially in the areas of technology and telecommunications. Fernandez, speaking at the Dominican Cyber Park, which is operated by Miami-based Terremark Worldwide, reminded the public that the Dominican Republic is Florida’s second largest trading partner …

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The Senate approved, in its second reading, the bills that pave the way for the implementation of the DR-CAFTA treaty. The next step is for the Senate to send the bills to the Chamber of Deputies for their approval. Once approved by the legislators, the President will need to sign them into law. Politicians are …

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President Leonel Fernandez defended the fiscal “rectification” that was announced recently, and urged the public to remain calm and be patient as the process develops. The President, quoted in Listin Diario, also has criticized the “constant negative chatter” about the rectification without anyone really knowing the details of the reform, and said that once the …

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President Fernandez has submitted a bill for approval by the Chamber of Deputies that would impose a custodial sentence and a fine on anyone in the public or private sector who is found bribing or accepting a bribe in exchange for beneficial treatment. The passed bill, required for the country’s entry into DR-CAFTA, is a …

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Trying to calm fears and misinformation surrounding the proposed fiscal reform, the IMF mission in the DR held a meeting yesterday with members of public and private sector groups to explain the details of the fiscal reform. According to the IMF team, the reform, carried out together with a reduction in government spending, could save …

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Presidency Technical Minister Temistocles Montas has clarified that the budget for 2007 will be RD$205 billion derived from internal resources and that depending on the amounts – yet unknown – of external resources, the budget could reach RD$240 billion. He estimates that RD$187 billion for the budget will come from internal revenues and that RD$18 …

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