President Luis Abinader informed that the Government is “studying” the inclusion of several “tax aspects” to facilitate the investment of tourists in the Dominican Republic.
“We are going to study this and we are going to see if we can include it in the next reforms,” said Abinader.
The president was present at a tour of the facilities where the Blue Mall World Trade Center will be built, where also present were the mayor of the National District, Carolina Mejía; the Minister of Tourism, David Collado; the administrator of the Banco de Reservas, Samuel Pereyra; among others.
During his participation in this event, Abinader predicted that the next Tourism high season will be one “of the best in the history of the country”.
“September was the best month in the whole country (in terms of Tourism) and already in October we are well ahead of October 2019, so the recovery of tourism is real”, said the president who stressed that the national economy is projected to grow between 10 and 12% next year.
World Trade Center
Abinader spoke during a tour to see the progress of the construction of Blue Mall World Trade Center, which began on October 8 last year, an act in which the president had given the “first blow” with the Velutini family.
The project of the Velutini Group, led by businessman Luis Emilio Velutini, will be located in the Blue Mall Santo Domingo. It is a project that will promote luxury tourism, real estate and business in the National District.
It was also reported that the opening of the Blue Mall expansion will be during the first quarter of 2023 and the inauguration of the entire World Trade Center Blue Mal complex, in the last quarter of 2024.
“I will be here for the opening in 2023 and I will be here for the inauguration of the complex in 2024,” Abinader said as he closed his participation in the event.
Government position
Meanwhile, on the other hand, the administrative minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza. reiterated in Puerto Plata that the government has not disseminated any document on the fiscal reform proposal, and that the text circulating, “is not the official position of the government” nor does it reflect the vision of what is needed.
Paliza responded to a question on the subject after delivering the conference “Perspectives of Development for Puerto Plata”, while participating as a guest at the business luncheon of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAMDR), Puerto Plata chapter,
The official affirmed that the Dominican Republic has to go through a process that goes beyond a fiscal reform, but to think about the country we want and how to get there. He said that it is necessary to put on the table how to finance, so that people with less possibilities can be inserted in the production in a more dignified way. Paliza also asked “How are we going to improve security levels? In a country where, for example, the Police does not have an integrated system so that one detachment in the country can communicate with another in an efficient way, where incidents are still recorded in a mascot”.
He said that the government of President Abinader will not promote anything that is not convenient for the country.
The official considered that the issue is not to collect for the sake of collecting, but in the sense of the changes being promoted in the country.
Inclusive tourism
During the conference, Paliza said that in order to promote the development and competitiveness of Puerto Plata it is necessary to implement a sustainable development strategy linked to all sectors of the national economy and a new inclusive tourism that encourages the growth of small and medium enterprises in the province.
This was the opinion of the Administrative Minister of the Presidency, who advocated the consolidation of the province’s tourism cluster and the creation of development banks and cooperatives that offer technical support, grant credits and financing options for agriculture, agro-industry and MSMEs.
“The development of our province must constitute a process that guarantees the promotion and impulse of modernity and construction of social and political citizenship, which is something more than the simple capitalization of natural and geographical advantages. We must aspire that these opportunities that have been taken advantage of in our province can be evidenced in the full development of each citizen”, he said.
Paliza highlighted the economic growth potential of the province, which he said has one of the best economic and productive diversification of the country, especially in the tourism, agriculture, farming, livestock, fishing and services sectors.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
