President Leonel Fernández cut the ribbon on Wednesday March 26 at the opening ceremony of the Juan Bosch Regional Customs Training Center for the Caribbean and Latin America. The president oversaw the opening of the training center, built at a cost of RD$450 million pesos, that will train technicians and employees of the General Customs Office.

The president, accompanied by Customs Director Miguel Cocco and other government officials, unveiled the bust of Professor Juan Bosch, former Dominican President and well-known writer, according to a government press release.

In an opening speech, Mr. Cocco said that when he first arrived at this institution the offices were in ruins. The locale has been converted into a complex made up of 13 buildings that include 103 apartments, exterior gardens, virtual classrooms, sports areas, kitchen, dining area, board game areas, pool hall, videoconferencing rooms, laboratories, emergency center and other facilities.

Cocco announced that the European Fund offered 8 million Euros, some $RD400 million pesos, earmarked to train customs agents from Latin America and the Caribbean. The Customs Agency will donate 25 scholarships to Haitian customs officials for training courses in an effort to maintain the customs agency of this country on the same level as that of the Dominican Republic.

Students will receive training from European and Latin American specialists. Teachers who cannot be present in person will be able to impart their classes through digital classrooms.