Abdulla Shahid meets with President Luis Abinader and highlights the rescue of tourism; he was also decorated
In his first visit to a Latin American and Caribbean country, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, met yesterday with President Luis Abinader and participated in various activities in this nation, in which he highlighted the recovery of tourism and the Dominican economy in the midst of the pandemic.
During a panel held in the Las Cariátides room of the National Palace, after a meeting in his office with Abdulla Shahid, the Dominican head of state recalled that, due to the covid-19 pandemic, local communities, including indigenous populations , women and young entrepreneurs around the world have been severely affected. He said that, globally, this sector is made up of more than 80% of micro, small and medium enterprises, a percentage that in some countries can reach 98%, and employs about 54% of women and a high proportion of young people. .
Abinader’s approach arises after specifying that, in countries like the Maldives, which is the birthplace of the president of the United Nations General Assembly, and like the Dominican Republic, the economy depends on more than 30% of the tourism sector and in some cases by more than 80%.
“The pandemic has not only highlighted the vulnerability of the sector to the effects of extreme weather, health and economic events, but has also highlighted the need to simultaneously drive the resilience, sustainability and inclusiveness of the tourism sector in response to the triple planetary crisis: climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution”, he said.
In this sense, the Dominican president spoke about the importance of public-private partnerships to achieve the recovery and strengthening of the sector, post-pandemic, thus achieving its resilience over time.
“We have seen how coordinated and joint actions have led our Dominican tourism model to stand out worldwide for achieving the most successful recovery in the industry,” he said.
Speaking at the event, Abdulla Shahid, who took a moment from his speech to speak in Spanish and offer his condolences for the murder of the Minister of the Environment, Orlando Jorge Mera, highlighted the handling of the Dominican government authorities to recover tourism and the economy in the midst of the shocks caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
Asonahores: DR is at its best
Speaking at the panel on Sustainable Tourism and Economic Recovery, the president of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants (Asonahores), Rafael Blanco, said that the Dominican Republic is at its best and is strategically positioned to catapult the tourism sector. based on a strategy based on inclusion and sustainability.
“In fact, we have achieved an extraordinary recovery in the tourism sector. Month after month we are breaking records. In fact, already this year we are projecting more than 7 million visits, more than pre-pandemic levels,” he noted.
In his opinion, a fundamental measure for the recovery that the country has had in terms of tourism and the economy is the public-private partnership that has been established and that he described as unprecedented.
Abdulla Shahid decorated
After completing his agenda at the National Palace of the Dominican Republic, the president of the United Nations General Assembly, together with President Abinader and Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez, went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he had lunch with the authorities and then was awarded.
Long experience in diplomatic affairs
Abdulla Shahid is Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives and was elected President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The election took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on June 7, 2021. In accordance with the established geographical rotation system, he was elected from the Group of Asia-Pacific States. He is a highly regarded politician and diplomat with a long and distinguished career both in the Government and in the Maldives legislature. Since he was appointed Foreign Minister for the second time in 2018, Shahid has worked to return the Maldives to being a responsible and respected member of the international community.
