SANTO DOMINGO.- Sigmund Freund, executive director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP), reported that the project to convert the Duarte port in Arroyo Barril-Samaná into a cruise terminal and the Amber Highway are the first two PPP infrastructure projects that are ready to begin execution in this year 2024.
As the 4th Anniversary of the promulgation of Law 47-20, the regulatory framework for Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), was commemorated yesterday, the official declared that the groundbreaking ceremony in Arroyo Barril is planned for the beginning of next March, an initiative that marks a great milestone as it is the first contract signed and the first infrastructure project awarded under this modality.
“It fills me with great satisfaction to tell you that next month our President will be breaking ground on this project, definitely a great achievement,” Freund stated.
The official also referred to the Amber Highway project in the Cibao region, indicating that they will be announcing its award next month and that the start of its construction is scheduled for the middle of this year.
In May 2021, the government announced that it would be putting the construction of the Amber Highway out to tender, and in May 2023 it assured the start of the construction of the project.
“Another milestone for the Dominican Government and the DGAPP, as it will be the most important socio-economic project for the Northern Region and the second infrastructure project to be carried out through a public-private partnership, under the mandate of Law 47-20,” Freund emphasized, while delivering the central words of the Thanksgiving homily.
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At the mass held in the Cathedral of the Americas, Freund highlighted that the institution currently has a Project Bank with 26 initiatives, 17 of them with an estimated investment of US$2,510.7 million.
He noted that, as the APP Unit and in record time compared to other countries in the region, they have managed to position the Dominican Republic as a benchmark for good practices in public-private partnerships and among the six countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with the best regulation and institutional framework, above Costa Rica, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Jamaica, and others.
The CEO of DGAPP explained that they are working on other high-priority initiatives for the country, such as the Santo Domingo Metropolitan Train, the Verón Punta Cana Aqueduct, and the Judicial City project, whose objective is to concentrate all the buildings of the Judicial Branch corresponding to the National District in a single judicial center.
Regarding the Cabo Rojo Tourism Project in Pedernales, Freund highlighted the progress made in 2023, including the arrival of the first cruise ship in January, as a historic milestone and a sign of the definitive launch of this new destination in the southern region. He reiterated that President Luis Abinader will break ground on the international airport in March and that the first of nine hotels planned for the project's first phase will begin operations by the end of 2024.
“I want you to know that, almost four years after taking the helm of the DGAPP, if we could go back in time and the President were to assign me this role again, literally, this role (because that's what they gave us, a law on paper, as the only starting point), we would again accept the challenge of building this institution from scratch without hesitation, leaving a mark and everything achieved in the area of PPPs,” Freund said in closing.
The Thanksgiving Mass was officiated by Monsignor Faustino Burgos Brisman, auxiliary bishop of Santo Domingo, and was attended by the general director of Customs, Eduardo Sanz Lovatón; the executive director of ProDominicana, Biviana Riveiro; the executive director of the Airport Department, Víctor Pichardo; the president of the Presidential Commission for Port Modernization and Security, Alejandro Campos, among other personalities.
