Dominican Republic Will Receive 250 Million Euros from Spain for Various Cooperation Projects

The Dominican Republic will have access to 250 million Euros from Spain, to be used for various projects, said President Leonel Fernández upon his arrival back to the DR. The money is part of Spain’s cooperation program.

“The consolidation of Spanish cooperation is seen the investment of Development Funds in social programs, directed toward the most vulnerable sectors of the Dominican population,” said President Fernández.

One large chunk of cooperation money from Spain will go into the building of Merca Santo Domingo, a project that seeks to concentrate and organize the sale of rural farm products on the periphery of the city. Part of this project involves purchasing refrigerators to conserve the fresh food.

“The consolidation of Spanish cooperation is seen the investment of Development Funds in social programs, directed toward the most vulnerable sectors of the Dominican population,” said President Fernández.

With resources offered by Spanish financial institutions, the Dominican government will finish Health City (Ciudad de la Salud), an ambitious health services program which has five medical centers that provide attention in different specialties, including hospitals, one general and another for geriatric attention. This will be undertaken in the coming 18 months, according to the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

President Fernández also sought financing for the construction of six modern jails to be built around the country.

He spoke with Spanish investors who are seeking to invest in the area of renewable energy sources which will seek to increase the current system by 500 megawatts.

Spanish business people involved in the Association of High Tech Companies showed interest in investing in Cyber Park of the Dominican Republic, said Fernández

In the audiovisual area, the president pointed to the assistance being offered to the State Corporation of Radio and Television (CER-TV in Spanish) from Spanish Television and the University of Salamanca.

With this proposal, a group of professionals and technicians from Spanish Television and the University of Salamanca will soon travel to the DR to act as advisors to the CER-TV in the process of modernization.

The Dominican President also announced the intentions of Spanish business people to finance two new Santo Domingo Metro lines. The government is organizing a public bid for the building of this important infrastructure.

In the area of infrastructure, the President said the government received enough financing to build 5,000 homes for families with low economic resources.