SANTO DOMINGO – The Dominican government continues its commitment to mechanizing the Dominican workforce to perform tasks in sectors such as construction and agriculture, among others. In this regard, President Luis Abinader affirmed yesterday, Monday, that this objective, set by his administration, has been progressing with government support through the Development and Export Bank (Bandex) and Banreservas.
"That's a project that has been progressing and has been carried out through various government financial institutions, but specifically through Bandex. Bandex has been financing equipment, especially in the agricultural sector, and other government institutions, including Banreservas, have also been involved in industrializing construction," the president responded during the weekly press conference.
Abinader responded to concerns raised by the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD), which last week proposed temporarily regularizing the status of foreign workers in key sectors of the economy. Julio Brache, the association's president, explained that the lack of immigrants has negatively impacted the construction and agribusiness sectors.
When answering questions in the weekly program, President Abinader left open the possibility that this process could be carried out by the Economic and Social Council ( CES ).
“In the Economic and Social Council, we will convene all sectors so that there, together with other sectors that have been working with us, they can discuss the issues according to the benefit and the best actions for our country; therefore, I will leave that discussion to the CES,” he declared.
It refers to the possibility of discussing the implementation of a regularization plan for Haitian workers, who currently represent the workforce in construction, the agricultural sector, among other sectors in the country.
Despite the progress mentioned, President Abinader acknowledged that there is still work to be done. “This project continues, it must continue. Foreign personnel have been replaced in some sectors, but more replacements are still needed,” he stated.
He recalled that the Dominican Association of Housing Builders and Promoters (Acoprovi) has been a key player in this process, organizing seminars and creating spaces for discussion to promote mechanization in construction.
He reported that he will hold a meeting with Andrés Bautista, Administrative Minister of the Presidency, to follow up on the plan in the agricultural sector.
Cover photo: Justo Feliz/El Inmobiliario.
