President Luis Abinader believes that the Dominican Oil Refinery (Refidomsa) should remain in the hands of the State and be involved in oil exploration in the country, in agreement and collaboration with other companies.
The head of state spoke as guest speaker at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (AmchamDR) luncheon, where he said that the government’s plans include modernizing the company, adding that the state bought back the 49% share interest from Venezuela for US$ 88,134,000, in August of this year.
“Our idea is that Refidomsa modernizes and gets involved in oil exploration in partnership with other companies,” Abinader said.
The President reiterated his commitment to administer public funds with absolute transparency. “Our country has one of the most stable and fastest growing democracies. The Dominican economy has recovered all the jobs lost due to the pandemic and we estimate a growth of 11% for this year,” he said.
Answering questions from lunch attendees, Abinader addressed one of his main concerns. He considers inflation to be a challenge, although he says he is satisfied with everything he has achieved in the first 16 months of mandate, mainly in terms of institutional transformations, the results in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and an efficient spending policy, as well as the start of infrastructure works.
“Who could have guessed that inflation like we have today would come after the pandemic, even if it is imported, the USA hasn´t seen inflation like this for 35 years. However, I believe that the problems are irrelevant if we work together, we will overcome them,” said the head of state.
During his speech “RD 2022: Democracy, stability and growth”, the President pointed to the country´s coming economic growth, forecast at 5% for the coming years and the almost total recovery of lost jobs, by the end of this year.
According to Abinader, the Dominican Republic has a bright future ahead marked by the chance to avail of commercial strategies such as nearshoring to strengthen its position as a commercial and logistics hub in the Caribbean.
While explaining how global value chains have been shortened, bringing production centers closer to consumer markets, a phenomenon known as nearshoring, President Abinader said: “Our country enjoys a privileged position, geographically located in the center of the Caribbean, with very stable economic basics and enviable comparative and competitive advantages.”
Roberto Herrera
The president of Amcham-DR, Roberto Herrera, pointed out how this moment of transformation that the country is going through is when commercial strategies such as nearshoring gain relevance.
He stated that the great growth opportunities the country presents are thanks to the “stability and predictability that it treasures,” as shown by the main international indicators.
“If we link public-private collaboration with the bilateral relationship we have been cultivating with the United States, we can turn the next decade into a real cycle of growth and modernization for our country. Including, of course, achieving the 600,000 new jobs that President Abinader points to as a realistic goal for the private sector,” he said.
As Herrera pointed out in his opening speech, data that show the importance of this bilateral relationship are the following: first, the United States welcomes about two million Dominicans, who, in October alone, sent more than US $ 7,300 million in remittances, equivalent to 85% of the total received; second, more than 40% of the tourists who come to our country are Americans; and third, trade between the two countries will exceed $15 billion this year.
He explained that AmchamDR “opens the doors” to this growth process in alliance with the public sector, as a result of which important initiatives have emerged, such as the Logistica, Nearshoring,Bureaucracy 0 and Digital Transformation round tables that are co-led by the Cabinet Office and the institution he chairs; and whose achievements include advances in the 24-hour Customs Clearance service and the regulation of teleworking.
He said “We can seize this moment to deploy our energies and realize our full potential. From AmchamDR,we aspire only to continue collaborating in this whole process.”
Refinery Repurchase
In August of this year, the Dominican State reported that it had bought back 49% of the subscribed and paid capital shares of Refinería Dominicana de Petróleo PDV (Refidomsa), which were owned by the company PDV Caribe, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), a state-owned company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
According to the Ministry of Finance, this transaction means the State becomes the owner of 100% of the company’s shares.
Due to the sanctions that the US government imposed on PDVSA and its subsidiaries from 2015, Refidomsa was affected in its access to local and international credit and limited in its use of payments through the banks, and so it has had to postpone its plans to expand and update the company. Similarly, it has been prevented from carrying out the normal corporate procedures of its management and administrative bodies.
Source:
El Dinero
