The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development and the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (INDOTEL) signed this Tuesday an inter-institutional alliance to implement the Development Strategy in the Border Zone, called Mi Frontera RD, together with initiatives to reduce the digital connectivity gap.
The alliance was signed by the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Miguel Ceara Hatton, and the president of the Board of Directors of INDOTEL, Nelson Arroyo.
The Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Ceara Hatton, delivered the welcoming remarks and said that the Development Strategy for the Border Zone (Mi Frontera RD) is the government instrument designed to guide the development of the border zone, based on the demands prioritized by the population, the analysis of structural gaps and productive zoning based on the potential of the territory.
“We are committed to guaranteeing a balanced development throughout the national territory”, said Minister Ceara Hatton, reiterating that improving the quality of life of the people implies bringing wellbeing where they live and this is a priority of the present Government.
He said that the territory is fundamental to be able to guarantee that all men and women of the country can live better, and for this reason the Directorate of Development Policies of the Border Zone was created, through which a process of articulation has been made in this territory and the municipal and provincial development councils have been strengthened.
The minister indicated that because of the pandemic a new subjectivity has been created, the digital transformation is an instrument of production and work and the capacities have to be created where the population lives to take a step further in the digital world. “That is why we value this agreement very much, because it is an opportunity to bring the possibility to a group of the population to be connected,” said Ceara Hatton.
Also, the central words of the event were given by the president of the Board of Directors of INDOTEL, Nelson Arroyo, who stressed the importance of connectivity and attention to the border area.
Arroyo said that INDOTEL has launched a program to bring fiber optics to the 26 municipalities in the country that do not have it and which are basically located in the border area. He indicated that in addition, to bring fiber optics to 136 municipal districts also located in the border regions, which aims to significantly close the digital divide in the country.
He said that the signing of the alliance is a sign of the good intentions and willingness of this regulatory body to promote the public policies implemented by the Government.
The alliance
The purpose of the alliance is to recognize the need to promote the integral development of the Border Zone composed of the provinces of Monte Cristi, Dajabón, Santiago Rodríguez, Elías Piña, Baoruco, Independencia and Pedernales, established in Law 12-21 which creates the Special Zone of Integral Border Development and a regime of incentives.
Also, to work together to promote the effective use and appropriation of digital technologies in rural and semi-urban communities in the Border Zone with significant levels of poverty, through the implementation of the CAHD Program to Connect Human Settlements to Development, an initiative to provide comprehensive solutions to communities without access to energy, water, telecommunications and road connectivity, through a program of investments in various infrastructures financed and executed by various entities (public, private, non-profit associations and international cooperation agencies).
The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development is committed to provide all the information produced by the Border Zone Observatory, as requested by the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (INDOTEL), in order to improve the knowledge and management of the entire territory in question.
Likewise, INDOTEL is committed to implement the programs and projects identified in the Mi Frontera RD Strategy, agreed upon by both entities and aligned with the profile of the institution.
Present at the activity were Príamo Ramírez, member of INDOTEL’s Board of Directors; the executive director, Julissa Cruz, the legal director, Juan Feliz Moreta, and the director of INDOTEL’s Telecommunications Development Fund, Amparo Arango.
The signing ceremony, held in INDOTEL’s Multipurpose Hall, was attended by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development; the Legal Director, Sheiner Adames; the Director of Development Policies for the Border Zone, Erick Dorrejo, and the Formulation Coordinator, Roberto Verrier. Also present were directors and specialists from different areas of the Ministry of Economy and INDOTEL.
