The Dominican Republic will receive high level visits this week. From the King of Spainpresidents and other officials will meet on the 24th and 25th at the XXVIII Iberoamerican Summit of Heads and Heads of State and Government. And in parallel, on the 23rd and 24th, they will be together more than 1,000 entrepreneurs in it XIV Ibero-American Business Meetingat the Sansouci Convention Center.
To find out more about what will be done in the second event, Free Daily talked with Cesar Dargamexecutive vice president of the National Council of Private Enterprise (Conep).
—What is the objective of the business summit?
This summit is a tradition that is celebrated in the Ibero-American space, that is, the 22 Latin American countries, Spain, Andorra and Portugal. It is an event that occurs in parallel to the Summit of Heads of State and, in fact, what it produces is a space for discussing topics of interest that are on the Ibero-American agenda and submit recommendations to heads of state, to be considered in the political declaration. So, the seat, the presidency, corresponds to the Dominican Republic.
We are waiting for them to come over 1,000 businessmen from the region, and also, combined with Dominican businessmen. The agenda takes a day and a half of discussion on issues that have to do with investment, with the economy, infrastructure, energy, connectivity, tourism, gender – gender is very important; Friday morning is being dedicated to him, with two panels.
—Is it always the norm that, when there is a Summit of Heads of State, this business meeting is held in parallel?
In some of the formats. In this Ibero-American space, it is customary for this to happen. In the latest versions, which were in Andorra and Guatemala, (it was done) earlier. This is the first time what is being celebrated face-to-faceafter the pandemicand therefore there are very high expectations.
—He says that they are going to meet to analyze important issues and propose them at the Summit of Heads of State
The businessmen’s meeting ends with a presidents dialogue. So, it is expected that on Friday afternoon President Abinader and at least six presidents of the region will participate and, in addition, the King of Spain. And, then, right there they are given the recommendations that would be known as part of the agenda of the summit on Saturday.
-Have you already confirmed who will be those presidents who will be in that dialogue?
Not yet, because the confirmations are coming directly to Presidency.
—As a business association, have you already identified what would be those issues that should not be left out so that they can be discussed and proposed to the presidents?
As the Dominican presidency, we intend to promote the country more in this forum, and especially in the moment in which we are living. Seeing the fact that the Dominican Republic is possibly the only country in the region that has this scenario of political stability, economic growth and social peace, it is a favorable trait.
Therefore, in discussions that have to do, both with investmentwith infrastructures, with reducing the gender gap, with tourismwe understand that there are many points of common interest with so many different countries that we can address.
“We trust that there can be a special approach to the issue of resilience in the face of external factors that are affecting all our economies”Executive Vice President of Conep
—People regularly see these summit meetings as gatherings of people with a lot of economic and political power, and they do not generate practical results. Do you understand that this would be the exception?
at least the theme of inclusion and representativeness We are trying to guarantee it. Companies of all sizes will participate. We are pleasantly surprised by the large number of micro and small businesses in the region that will be participating. And combine that dialogue with large companies as well.
It is not just a discussion -as is sometimes thought- of a group of entrepreneurs with a profit-only agenda rather, it is rather a development agenda seen from a business perspective and with all the challenges that companies face at the moment.
—Important people from the business sector will be together. They will be the presidents of Iberia and Mapfre; the same king of Spain. Why was it decided -I don’t know if they are the ones that register- to these companies that are on the agenda?
Efforts have been made to have companies that have things to contribute in the discussion of each of the issues and that are represented at their highest level of corporate governance (…). In each of these panels will be present presidents of Dominican companies of a very high level.
—Besides Conep, which business groups are you supporting from other countries?
In the Dominican Republic, Conep is leading, but the 58 associations that are part of Conep and a significant number of companies are also accompanying us directly. And coordination with the rest of the region is also through its business leaders and sectoral associations in each of the countries. For example, within the framework of this meeting, a meeting of Fedepricap, the Federation of Business Associations of Central America, will be held, with the participation of the presidents of all of them.
—In addition to the schedule of seminars, panels, will there be face-to-face meetings? As you say, they want to promote the Dominican Republic. Will there be room for investment to be attracted?
Yes. The Sansouci facilities have been enabled, which is where the meeting will take place, so that, in parallel with the panels that are going to be developed, they will also be held direct meetings to identify business opportunities.
—And there you could close deals or just make presentations?
The idea is that: that outside of the formal protocol program, well, these conversations can take place and hopefully they can Close business.
—Is there any issue that you expect the presidents to include as an action to be taken by the participating states when they make a declaration at the summit?
We trust that there can be a special approach to the issue of resilience to external factors that are affecting all our economies and how public-private partnerships can be promoted to address these types of challenges.
—That the Dominican Republic has been chosen within this context of crisis -and that the country is differentiated in growth in the region-, how do you see that it will help your image?
We are very proud and committed to what the Dominican Republic is doing. Obviously, it is facing the same uncertainty as the rest of the countries on the global stage. However, to the extent that we can maintain dialogue with the different social actors and show good performance in our economic indicators, it is a positive sign, maintaining the social peace that we have. So, with that pride in what we are doing, we want to welcome everyone who comes and share the experience, and infect them as much as possible.
