The National Public Investment System and MapaInversiones allow users to consult budgets, responsible institutions, and progress levels of government initiatives, with the purpose of strengthening transparency and facilitating citizen oversight
SANTIAGO. – With the aim of bringing the mechanisms of planning and oversight of state spending closer to the public, the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) presented last Wednesday the National Public Investment System (SNIP) and the digital platform MapaInversiones, two tools that allow users to understand how initiatives financed with resources from the Dominican State are identified, organized, executed and evaluated.
The activity, organized by the School of Economics and the Economics Student Committee of the university, brought together representatives from the Directorate of Public Investment of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, who explained the different stages of the state management cycle and the technical criteria that must be applied to ensure that the proposals respond to the country's growth needs.
During the welcoming remarks, Professor José Miguel Hernández, director of the Manuel José Cabral Tavares Chair of Economics and coordinator of the School of Economics at PUCMM, emphasized that the quality of government spending depends, to a large extent, on proper planning and the selection of initiatives capable of generating economic and social benefits.
“A good public investment begins long before laying the first block of a project,” Hernández said, explaining that it is necessary to correctly identify the needs of the population, evaluate the feasibility of the proposals, and establish priorities based on their social impact.
He also highlighted the contribution of MapaInversiones as a mechanism for transparency and access to data, since it facilitates the consultation of details about government initiatives, budget items, responsible entities and their respective levels of progress.
Experts explain the stages of state investment
As part of the day, the panel "The National Public Investment System and the Public Investment Cycle" was held , moderated by the Director of Public Investment, engineer Francis Ortega, with the participation of specialists Víctor Hugues, Yanna Dishmey and Vickeisy Mercado.
In that space, Víctor Hugues, in charge of the Pre-investment and Programming Department of the Directorate of Public Investment, addressed the procedures and technical parameters involved in the formulation and programming of proposals, highlighting their importance to guarantee a proper materialization of state works.
Furthermore, he considered it necessary to bring this knowledge closer to university students, to foster their interest in the administration of public funds and promote greater citizen participation in the oversight of government initiatives.
For her part, Yanna Dishmey, head of the Policy and Strategy Department of that agency, explained the functions of the Ministry of Finance and Economy in the evaluation of public-private partnership initiatives, as well as the actions aimed at increasing the efficiency of state spending.
The specialist pointed out that properly examining proposals allows for optimizing the government budget and preventing funds from being allocated to initiatives that do not align with national priorities. She also highlighted the professional growth opportunities this field offers to economics students.
In turn, Vickeisy Mercado, sector specialist at the General Directorate of Public Investment, identified the subsequent evaluation of initiatives as one of the main challenges for the Dominican Republic and other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In this regard, he explained that it is not enough to simply complete a construction project; it is also necessary to determine whether it achieved the objectives for which it was designed and whether it produced the expected benefits for the population. This process allows for the identification of weaknesses, the measurement of results, and the refinement of planning for future projects.
What is MapaInversiones and how does it work?
One of the main components of the meeting was the presentation of MapaInversiones, a digital platform developed with assistance from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which makes available to citizens information related to initiatives financed by the State.
In simple terms, it is a technological portal that allows users to consult and monitor works funded with public funds, without depending exclusively on institutional reports or formal requests for access to data.
Through this system, users can learn about aspects such as:
- Location of the works: allows identification of where the works are carried out and which territories receive government resources.
- Budget allocation: makes it easy to know the economic items allocated to each initiative.
- Responsible entity: identifies the state agency in charge of its development.
- Physical progress: allows you to check the progress of the work and find out if a construction is progressing, delayed or remains paralyzed, according to the available records.
- Financial execution: provides details on spending behavior and funds used during the process.
The combination of these indicators allows for a comparison of the physical progress of a construction project with the economic resources disbursed, a relevant aspect for detecting possible delays and strengthening oversight of public funds.
In this way, MapaInversiones functions as a mechanism for transparency and social oversight, by making it easier for citizens, journalists, researchers, students and organizations to examine government actions and monitor the management of state funds.
Transparency and opportunities for the construction sector
Access to these records is also of interest to construction companies, real estate developers and other actors linked to economic activity, as it allows them to know the Government's budgetary priorities and the infrastructure projects planned or under construction in different areas of the country.
Likewise, having data on roads, educational centers, hospitals and other facilities helps to understand how territorial resources are distributed and which communities could benefit from new government interventions.
The day concluded with a question and answer session, during which university students exchanged concerns with specialists about the selection of initiatives, access to official records, and the possibilities of developing academic research related to the impact of state spending.
The presentation highlights a fundamental aspect of public administration: the responsibility of the State does not end when it allocates a budget item or inaugurates an infrastructure, but it must also demonstrate that the funds were used correctly and that the works fulfilled their purpose.
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