Ecuador and the Dominican Republic defined a new Bilateral Cooperation Program to be developed from this year until 2024, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement released on Thursday.
The program was outlined on Wednesday during the fifth meeting of the Joint Commission for Technical, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation between the two countries, and marks a milestone after eight years in which it remained inactive.
The delegations of Ecuador and the Dominican Republic agreed on the need to give priority to comprehensive cooperation projects with greater sectoral impact that contribute to sustainable development.
Thus, the new cooperation program will prioritize its work in the sectors of institutional strengthening, agriculture, environment and water, agriculture, housing and education.
The Undersecretary of Economic Affairs and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador, Juan Carlos Castrillón, explained that the Ecuadorian Executive is interested in offering and facilitating the execution of projects that will strengthen Dominican institutions.
These projects will include initiatives focused on the construction of the “Semaphore of the Rural Family in Development”, a tool that measures the living conditions of women so that they can receive credit, under flexible conditions, with facilities in the grace periods according to the type of crop.
It will also seek to replicate the successful Ecuadorian initiative aimed at housing retrofitting and strengthen capacities to build the diagnosis and action plan for the Enriquillo transboundary watershed.
“South-South cooperation programs and projects are particularly relevant because they allow us to generate development opportunities for our peoples based on the strengths of each one,” said Castrillón.
For her part, Olaya Ondina Dotel Caraballo, Vice Minister of International Cooperation and National Authorizing Officer of European Funds for Development of the Dominican Republic, emphasized that the two countries are committed to deepening the bonds of friendship by assuming international cooperation as a key tool for development.
“For the Dominican Government it is of great interest that the results of this new meeting (…) contribute to promote the development of human, professional and institutional capacities of both countries,” said Dotel Caraballo.
