Warning situation: Haiti could be a big threat to Dominican Republic

The situation in Haiti could represent a great threat to the Dominican Republic, so the country cannot turn its back on that reality, said businessman Fernando Capellán yesterday.

By participating as an exhibitor at the breakfast of the Italian Chamber of Commerce (CCDI), at the headquarters of the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD), Capellán said that the stability of the DR will depend on what happens at Haiti.
“The Dominican Republic has to wake up and say that Haiti is an opportunity, that if left as it is is going to be a threat,” said Chaplain, offering details of the current evolution of Codevi Park, under his leadership, which plans to provide 17,000 jobs by 2021, for the benefit of depressed areas in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Chaplain said that governments and the private sector of both countries should be in permanent contact, but that Dominicans should have the initiative because this country has more to lose with the situation of the neighbor.

He insisted that an important challenge for DR is Haiti, but that this would be a challenge and a problem “if we continue” with our backs to the border, our backs to improve relations and to work together with the public and private sectors.
“It is a country with many opportunities. It is a country without electricity, without health, with practically poor education and in all these areas there are business opportunities for Dominicans,” he said.

He added that he is promoting that Dominican business associations and their counterparts in Haiti hold meetings, but that Dominican women have the initiative to call Haitians to dialogue.

“The Conep, the AIRD, the Chamber of Commerce must call their counterparts in Haiti to talk. That same binational commission, which has never met again, put it to work. The most important embassy in our country, definitely, is that of Port-au-Prince. We must deal with that situation and not be thinking that someone is going to solve a problem for us,” said the businessman.

Employees

When asked about the generation of jobs at the border, Chaplain said they have 14,500 employees, including one thousand Dominicans who go to Haiti daily to work.