Infotep opens new training center in Puerto Plata Free Zone to boost skills and jobs

Puerto Plata, DR.- INFOTEP opened a new training center in the Puerto Plata Free Zone, a ceremony led by Minister of the Presidency José Ignacio Paliza on behalf of President Luis Abinader. Officials called the facility a milestone for the North region’s productive and social development, aimed at strengthening workforce skills and local opportunity.

The center sits on the Puerto Plata–Navarrete road, opposite CURA–UASD, and results from a partnership with the Free Zones Corporation. The building houses textile workshops, an IT lab, classrooms and administrative space to serve both park workers and neighboring communities immediately.

INFOTEP director Rafael Santos Badía emphasized the center’s role in boosting employability and business competitiveness, promising training for thousands of young people and adults in industry-relevant fields. Course offerings include textile manufacturing, IT and cybersecurity, administrative services, English, financial health, AI for business, database programming, community management and digital marketing.

Local authorities, industry leaders and university representatives attended the inauguration, highlighting links with firms such as Kochmar and Papakura and with institutions like CURA–UASD and UTESA. The new facility complements existing INFOTEP programs in gastronomy, industrial electricity and refrigeration and becomes the third INFOTEP center in Puerto Plata, with further sites planned for Villa Montellano and Punta Bergantín.

INFOTEP’s North Coast satellite office reported training 154,236 participants from August 2020 to August 2025, with a roughly even gender split (53.15% women). Director Santos Badía framed these results as evidence of INFOTEP’s sustained commitment to aligning skills development with labor-market demands and regional progress.