EFE press agency reports that First Lady Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez is on a three-day visit to Dublin where she and a delegation of Dominican politicians and businessmen are studying the successful Irish economic and social model. Cedeno began her tour with a visit to the facilities of “First Step Microfinance” a partly state-owned non-profit organization created in 1991, which issues loans to projects that have been rejected by more conventional lenders. First Step has funded approximately 1,500 new projects that have generated more than 3,000 jobs, according to official sources. On Tuesday, the First Lady will visit several of Dublin’s poorer neighborhoods, where the “Neighborhood Development Association” is applying educational programs for young businessmen interested in modernizing and improving conditions in these areas. Also on Tuesday, the delegation will attend a reception organized by International Development Ireland (IDA) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On Wednesday, the official program will end with a meeting with Enable Ireland, a public institution that facilitates a broad range of services to integrate people with physical and mental disabilities. Locally, the visit has the support of the CEI-RD, the government’s export-investment promotion branch and the National Competitiveness Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EFE press agency reports that First Lady Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez is on a three-day visit to Dublin where she and a delegation of Dominican politicians and businessmen are studying the successful Irish economic and social model. Cedeno began her tour with a visit to the facilities of “First Step Microfinance” a partly state-owned non-profit … <\/p>\n