President Luis Abinader met yesterday with King Felipe VI of Spain at the Royal Palace of El Pardo and discussed vaccination issues, the global economic crisis and bilateral relations.
With regard to vaccination, in order to defeat the coronavirus, both the King and the Dominican President agreed to highlight the difficulties faced by poor nations in obtaining vaccines and thus in protecting their populations.
With regard to the global economic crisis, they also agreed that coronavirus was the main enemy for investment, job losses, tourism and production in general.
Even so, President Abinader and King Felipe VI decided to join forces so that Spain and the Dominican Republic could strengthen their bilateral relations.
Visit to the king
The President went to the Royal Palace accompanied by the Spanish side, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for Latin America and the Caribbean, Cristina Gallach, and the Spanish Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Alejandro Abellán.
On the Dominican side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Álvarez; the Ambassador to Spain, Juan Bolívar Díaz; the director of protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Cantizano; Lourdes Herrera and Eilyn Beltrán, assistants to the President.
The king received Abinader during his visit to Spain for the XXVII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in Andorra.
The arrival of the Dominican president in Andorra is scheduled for this Tuesday, in the company of the President of Guatemala, Alejandro Gianmattei, who will arrive with the king, who invited him to leave in his plane.
Prime Minister
President Abinader was also received yesterday by the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the Moncloa Palace, as part of his official visit.
The President arrived at the Spanish Government headquarters at 12:30 local time, accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Álvarez; the Dominican ambassador to Spain, Juan Bolívar Díaz, and the director of ProDominicana, Biviana Riveiro.
“We are talking about vaccination and recovery after the pandemic and about cooperation between our countries. We share a close bilateral relationship in a multitude of sectors that we want to further strengthen, “President Sánchez reported on his Twitter account after the meeting.
Before visiting President Sánchez, the Dominican leader held a meeting with important Spanish businessmen, who have large investments in the Dominican Republic.
Abinader said his government will always be open and willing to support everything it creates in the Dominican Republic to improve people’s quality of life.
This meeting, which took place at the Casas de las Américas headquarters, served the Spanish entrepreneurs to show their desire to continue investing in the country.
Spanish investors have expressed confidence in the President’s willingness to invest and create jobs from the outset.
Good forecasts
Abinader predicted that the country’s economic recovery will be above the Latin American average, most likely the world average.
The president spoke when he participated in an interview conducted by the journalist and the president of the EFE Agency, Gabriela Cañas, within the program Tribuna EFE Casa de América.
Abinader expressed optimism that the tourism sector, which is still at pre-Covid level, will gradually change to return to normal by the end of this year.
He stressed that the Dominican Republic is heading for a real economic recovery and gave as an example that in Punta Cana, with the hotel sectors, producer markets are being created so that the same producers can sell directly to hotels, avoiding expensive intermediaries.
He stressed that his government promotes transparency and leads the fight against corruption and the elimination of impunity. “I am in politics to help the country, out of passion for public service,” he said.
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Covid vaccination. Referring to the vaccination process, he stressed that the country has probably reached the best levels of vaccination, not only in Latin America, but also worldwide, in relation to the population.
Invest in the country.
Abinader listed in front of Spanish businessmen yesterday the multiple business opportunities in the country, becoming the first investment destination in the Caribbean. He spoke at the second business meeting at the Gabriela Mistral Amphitheater at Casa América.
The dilemma with Haiti
President Luis Abinader said yesterday that the international community should bear greater responsibility for the situation of political and social instability in Haiti and denied that building a border wall was part of an immigration policy.
Abinader explained that the country is experiencing periods of great social irritation and that the Dominican Republic is taking steps to ensure security.
“The perimeter fence with a technology zone will help Haiti a lot in terms of customs revenues, which currently have a great lack of control,” he said.
He argued that the Dominican Republic has a good relationship with all sectors of Haiti and is willing, without participating, to promote an atmosphere of reconciliation and arbitration, as it has spoken bilaterally with European leaders so that they can participate. “But the international community should not leave us alone on the Haitian issue,” Abinader said.