The executive director of the DGAPP, Sigmund Freund, highlighted that the institution currently has a Project Bank with 26 initiatives, 17 of them with an estimated investment of US$2,510.7 million.
He noted that in 2023, as a major milestone in PPP history, they awarded and signed the contract for the execution of the first infrastructure project to be developed in the country under the model, the conversion of the Duarte Port of Arroyo Barril in Samaná into a cruise terminal.
“It fills me with great satisfaction to tell you that next month our President Luis Abinader will be giving the first kick for the start of this work, definitely a great achievement,” he said.
He referred that, as a PPP Unit and in record time with respect to other countries in the region, they have managed to position the Dominican Republic as a benchmark of good practices in public-private partnerships and among the six countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with the best regulation and institutional framework, above Costa Rica, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Jamaica, and others.
The official also referred to the Amber Highway project indicating that next month they will be announcing its award and that the start of its construction is scheduled for the middle of this year 2024.
“Another milestone for the Dominican Government and the DGAPP, as it will be the most important socio-economic work for the Northern Region and the second infrastructure project to be materialized through a public-private partnership, under the mandate of Law 47-20,” Freund emphasized.
Likewise, the executive director of the DGAPP indicated that they are working with other high priority initiatives for the country, such as the Santo Domingo Metropolitan Train, the Veron-Punta Cana Aqueduct, and the Judicial City project, whose objective is to concentrate all the buildings of the Judicial Power corresponding to the National District in a single judicial center.
Regarding the Cabo Rojo Tourism Project in Pedernales, Freund highlighted all that was achieved in 2023 in terms of the progress of the works and the arrival in January of the first cruise ship, as a historic milestone and a sign of the definitive start of the new destination of the Southern region. He reiterated that in March President Luis Abinader will be giving the first kick-off for the construction of the international airport and that by the end of 2024 the first hotel will begin operations, of the nine that are contemplated in the first phase of the project.
“I want you to know that after almost four years at the head of the DGAPP, if we were to go back in time and the President assigns me this role again, literally, this role (because that is what they gave us, a law on paper, as the only starting point), we would again accept the challenge of building this institution from scratch and without thinking about it, leaving an imprint and all that has been achieved in terms of PPP”, said the executive during a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated at the Catedral Primada de América, for the 4th anniversary of the promulgation of the law. Anniversary of the promulgation of Law 47-20, the regulatory framework for projects to be executed in the country under the PPP model.
Source: Arecoa.com
