IDB grant of US$1.8M aims to boost Colonial Zone SMEs

Santo Domingo.- Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank (IDB) representative Flora Montealegre and and Santo Domingo TourismCluster consultant Luis Marino Lopez on Tuesday signed an agreement for a technicalcooperation grant to develop the Colonial City´s Commercial and UrbanRevitalization Project.

The three-year agreemententails a grant of US$1.8 million of which US$850,000 are from the IDB MultilateralInvestment Fund (MIF).

The YPES project expectsto directly impact more than 180 companies and some 540 people in the ColonialCity, with the cooperation of Tourism Ministry of and the Vice Ministry for SMEs.

The project aims tobolster public-private partnership in the area also known as the Colonial Zone,with a focus on boosting micro and small businesses to take advantage of newopportunities resulting from government investments.

The project will work mostlyon strengthening existing companies to a business model and improve the qualityof public investment and take advantage of the influx of new customers for growth.