Vice President Raquel Peña said that the increase in investments and the confidence shown by the business sector in the country are proof of the faith in the Government led by Luis Abinader, because it guarantees a favorable climate for safe, reliable and profitable investments.
“The important thing is not just what we achieve in the time we are governing, but how we are preparing the country to continue growing and developing based on institutionality, transparency and continuity of the State,” she said when participating as a guest speaker at the Monthly Luncheon of the American Chamber of Commerce (Amchamdr).
“Although great historical and inequality challenges remain, in just over 30 months of President Abinader’s administration, the economy has achieved a surprising recovery and, as our president has already said: If we have achieved all this in adverse and challenging times, imagine what we will achieve in the coming years. Together let’s avail of the window President Abinader has opened and the opportunities provided to become the best country to invest in and to live in,” she said.
Raquel Peña pointed out that the private sector is aware of which areas of investment development they need, and which are most attractive. She urged entrepreneurs to “Come closer, we are here to facilitate and accelerate these investments, within the legal framework.”
The Vice President highlighted the importance of maintaining the social peace the Dominican Republic has enjoyed and that has generated confidence in national and foreign investors.
“This social peace is sown in the consciousness of national and foreign investors and because of that social peace, investors have the Dominican Republic among the dwindling number of countries they can believe in. A Republic, which, so far, has not opened its doors to extreme ideologies and political stances. Neither left nor right,” she stressed.
The Vice President drew attention to the need for the country to remain united in the face of crucial issues such as the Haitian crisis.
“Social peace is fundamental not only for the success of the present administration, but also for our future leaders, regardless of their political party. The problem of the continuous increasingly serious Haitian crisis and the threat that hangs over our territory caused by increasing, unregulated immigration must not divide the population, much less, the political class, the business and union sectors, and the intellectual elites,” she proclaimed.
Peña considered the call made by President Abinader as timely, so that, together, we reach a sensible agreement on how to face the external shock that the Haitian crisis is transmitting to us.
“Let’s prevent the Haitian crisis from dividing us. If we divide, we could open the doors to the emergence of extreme political platforms, be they right or left, that could threaten social peace, the most valuable asset we have built up over the last six decades,” the Vice President said.
Peña said she can feel the admiration for the country among the international contact she has with leaders of governments and multilateral organizations.
“I’m not lying when I say that the admiration we evoke abroad far exceeds what we feel at home. I can even tell you that from the highest mountains, in the presence of political leaders and leading businessmen worldwide, at the World Economic Forum held in Davos in January, I realized how they admire us but above all how they value our potential,” she said.
Her view on development
In an optimistic speech, the Vice President presented her view on the transformation, growth, and development that the Dominican economy has shown in recent decades.
“The road that leads to the failure of governments is built with politically popular phrases. Hence so many speeches that sound metaphorical and complacent without a sincere vision of future development of the country,” said Peña.
She maintained that to talk about development there must be continuity of the State, and that in that respect President Abinader has set an example.
“We cannot talk about growth or a promising future without talking about continuity of the State, an aspect President Luis Abinader has lectured on institutionality, leadership and execution,” she said.
In assessing economic growth, she stressed that, in 1962, the country ranked fourteenth in the ranking of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per population. “Today we are in seventh place. With $10,700 per capita in 2022, we have surpassed Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador,” Peña said.
Women in social development
In celebrating International Women’s Day, the Vice President appreciated women’s contributions to the country’s social and economic development based on statistics.
“The female employment rate, for example, stood at 47% in 2022, close to its pre-pandemic level. This reflects the reintegration of women into the labor market, after they were among the groups most affected by the health crisis mainly due to their fundamental role in caring for the home,” she said.
She said that these statistics mean that President Abinader has shown that his government is focused on promoting women’s participation in society.
“As a first step, by appointing 31 women in provincial governorships, he handed over a strategic position to women, such as being representatives of the Executive Branch in the provinces,” she said.
She explained that in the workplace 35% of the employed female population is concentrated in post requiring greater academic preparation, such as managers and administrators, professionals and intellectuals, mid-level technicians and office employees, compared to the employed population of the male gender that is 16%.
Peña highlighted that companies led by women have represented an important participation in the Dominican export sector, accumulating 3,209 economic agents 26 with export records from the beginning of 2012 to August 2022.
She reported that, at the end of 2021, this group of businesswomen accounted for more than one thousand US$ 800 million in exports only.”
Today, we have more women than ever leading chambers of commerce in the country. When as recently as 2010 all the Chambers were chaired by men, today 25% are being led by committed, energetic and focused women,” she stated.
She said there are women in this country who have made a difference in the roles they have played.
“Dominican women today have a quasi-monopoly on television programs dedicated to journalistic investigation to promote transparency and report possible acts of corruption. So much so that their names, Nuria, Alicia, Julissa and Addys, are enough to know who we are referring to, without their surnames,” she acknowledged.
On the role of women in the media, the Vice President explained that there are no limits preventing Dominican women from expressing their opinions to the population in general with acuity, depth and wisdom.
The monthly luncheon of the American Chamber of Commerce was attended by government officials, as well as businessmen from the country’s range of economic sectors. The event took place at the Hotel Embajador.
The country’s challenges to support women more
Peña listed the challenges that Dominican women face in the economic sphere. “We have to close the gap between the number of women students and university graduates compared to those who are occupying important positions within the public and private sector,” said Vice President Peña. To work on this challenge, she said that a series of workshops and diplomas will be held throughout the country in coordination with the Dominican Municipal League to develop the full potential of the female population and facilitate the way to achieve full participation in working life and in leadership positions in the various sectors.
Development
As evidence of development, the Vice President compared the country’s economy for 1962 with what was achieved by 2022.
Source:
El Caribe
