2019 – Page 246

Regional business and trade policy expert, David Lewis of the Washington, D.C.-based advisory firm, Manchester Trade Limited, Inc., at the American Chamber of Commerce during the monthly luncheon on Wednesday, 20 February 2019, gave Dominican businessmen insights on what to expect from the Trump administration, especially regarding the 15-year old DR-CAFTA and future trade. Lewis …

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2018 closed with a trade deficit of US$11.11 billion. In 2017, the trade deficit was already a high US$9.18 billion. The data was compiled by the Programa de Estudios del Desarrollo Dominicano (PED), under the Centro de Estudios Económicos y Sociales P. José Luis Alemán SJ of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), …

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Rector Julio Amado Castaños Guzmán of the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) announced on Monday, 25 February 2019 that English is now an official second language at the private university for undergraduate and graduate courses. Students can now choose courses from a selection in English and Spanish. Read more:Unibe 28 February 2019

The Dominican Public School Teachers’ Association (ADP) cancelled the sit-down protest called for this Thursday, 28 February 2019 to protest the government’s failure to comply with agreements that are now over two years old. The head of the group, Xiomara Guante, told reporters some overdue payments had been received. The ADP had said that if …

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WCG Energy Ltd announced the start of construction of a US$78 million solar energy plant in Mata de Palma, Guerra in Monte Plata province on Monday, 25 February 2019. The project is 45 minutes from the city of Santo Domingo. The plan is for it to generate 110 million kilowatt hours, an amount sufficient to …

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The Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) executive vice president Rubén Jiménez Bichara announced the first of two units of the Punta Catalina coal-fired power central was connected to the national power grid system (SENI) for a 30 minute test operation on 27 February 2019, in commemoration with Independence Day. The tests are supervised by General Electric, …

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Rafael Abreu, the labor sector representative in the employers-labor and government committee that discusses changes to the Labor Code and minimum wages, says no labor gain will be touched. Abreu is president of the Confederación Nacional de Unidad Sindical (CNUS). Reported in Diario Libre, Abreu highlighted four points that are not negotiable in the Labor …

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With President Danilo Medina’s speech on 27 February 2019 being the headline news for the day, the leading print media dedicated their editorials to the president. Read these here: HoyListin DiarioEl CaribeDiario LibreCDN 28 February 2019

The Dominican Constitution calls for the annual 27 February Independence Day presidential speech to be a rendition of accounts of the passing year. Carlos Pimentel, executive director of Participación Ciudadana, a leading political watchdog group, remarked that President Danilo Medina instead endeavored to promote his achievements from a political party perspective and consolidated data from …

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President Danilo Medina says the crime index has dropped every year since 2012. He said in 2012 when he first took office the crime index was at 24% and it is now at 10.4%. He called this “the lowest ever registered.” He attributed the numbers to Insight Crime. Insight Crime describes itself as a foundation …

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