SANTO DOMINGO- The General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP) currently manages a portfolio of projects worth almost 9 billion dollars, said Sigmund Freund, the entity's executive director, yesterday.
He stated that this figure corresponds to the initiatives that are currently submitted, in the process of evaluation and awarding, and that 90% have been proposed by private agents.
In his opening remarks at the “Specialized International Forum on Public-Private Partnerships and their Social and Economic Impact in the Dominican Republic,” Freund emphasized that “we can not only showcase a robust institution, but we also have a portfolio or project bank with more than 14 initiatives, some in feasibility studies, others declared to be of public interest, and one already declared in the awarding phase.”.
The event was organized by the DGAPP and the Technological Institute of Santo Dominico (INTEC), with the participation of national and international experts on the subject of public-private partnerships.
The CEO of DGAPP reported that they have awarded the first PPP contract for an infrastructure project, which consists of the rehabilitation and conversion of the Duarte port in Arroyo Barril-Samaná, into a cruise terminal and complementary tourist facility, defining it as an extraordinary achievement for an institution with only two years and seven months.
“The challenges and obstacles of PPPs are, without a doubt, much smaller than the benefits they are intended to offer to the country's economic development, attracting private capital, both national and foreign, towards public projects that serve to solve problems, to promote the development and economic growth that the country requires and, above all, to improve the quality of life of the Dominican people,” he explained.
INTEC's Vice-Rector of Administration and Finance, Alliet Ortega, stated that it is an honor for INTEC that such an important topic for the country's development, such as public-private partnerships and their social and economic impact, is being discussed in an international forum.
“As part of our INTEC DNA, one of the pillars of the university has been to contribute to the development of our country. We have an agreement signed with the DGAPP to promote these issues, and likewise, as an academic institution, we are convinced that collaboration between academia, the private and public sectors is essential to fostering innovation and economic development, which is a necessity. For this reason, our commitment has always been to embrace this triple helix model.”.
Forum Details
The academic activity was developed in two panels, the first on “Benefits of the APP model: planning and financing of projects.”, with the participation of the general director of public investment, Martín Franco, and the experts in APP matters, Federico Villalobos (Costa Rica) and Rafael Dickson (Dominican Republic).
A second panel addressed the case study “Puerto Duarte: Challenges in Structuring Private Initiatives,” with presentations by Jorge Aguilar, advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Trade Law Development Program; Scarlet Rodriguez, commercial director of the Dominican Port Authority (Apordom); Marcial Smester, investment director of ProDominicana; and financial consultant Schafik Collazo (El Salvador).
