PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OF DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

press conference by president of dominican republic

The Global Compact Summit today was “a magnificent meeting” of business, civil society, government and labour representatives, which had addressed the issues of corporate social responsibility, human rights and labour standards, President-elect of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernandez, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

The meeting had been chaired by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, he continued, and President Lula da Silva of Brazil had made a statement on the implementation of social policies and how corporations could apply the principles of human rights, environmental protection and labour standards.  Mr. Fernandez was particularly interested in those issues, as the non-governmental organization he headed, the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, had been working on the promotion of human rights, labour standards and the environmental protection for a long time now.

Responding to a question about his country’s fiscal reform, he said that, obviously, the project contributed to sustaining good governance in the Dominican Republic, since the fundamental problem his country was facing today was related to public finances and liquidity.  The only way to solve the problem of liquidity was to increase the income that the Government could collect from taxes.  It was not, therefore, contingent on speculation, but on the will of the ruling political class in the country, which was, in fact, calling for fiscal reform as part of government sustainability.

Asked about a possible moratorium on external debt, he said that the Dominican Republic did not want to convey the impression that it was about to stop payments or default.  The fiscal reform it was carrying out was directed towards being able to comply with its obligations on international financial markets.  The country needed to demonstrate that it was a reliable debtor, that it could meet its obligations and then move forward.  The Dominican Republic was not requesting any moratorium, and it was not going to do so.  In the final analysis, it might establish a debt restructuring policy, but it was not going to propose a moratorium.  He wanted to stress the point because the markets were very sensitive and he did not want there to be any doubt about it.

A correspondent asked a question about the devaluation of the peso, saying that the risk qualification agency of the United States, Standard and Poor’s, in its 2004 report, had emphasized the serious nature of the Dominican crisis, made even worse by the international price of crude oil, in addition to the rise in the dollar.  The report said that between now and August, the Government would have to make serious decisions.  How could those decisions be taken without creating social unrest?

Mr. Fernandez replied that the greatest social needs were being caused by the continuing devaluation of the peso, which resulted in diminished purchasing power for the population and worsened the economic situation, as a whole.  Thus, it was important to reduce the rate of exchange, stabilize the economy, stabilize the peso and restore the rate of economic growth.

Asked about the impact of the arrival of Haitian refugees in the Dominican Republic, he said that the situation in Haiti had now stabilized and the interim government was in place.  There were contacts between the Government of the Dominican Republic and the current leadership of Haiti.  Conditions were now ripe for elections in 2005, and what was needed was an impartial electoral board that would be accepted by all the parties, a realistic timetable and credible elections.

To a question about the meetings he planned to have while in the United States, he said that he was planning to have a discussion with former President Bill Clinton.  Later, he would sign a working agreement with the City University of New York (CUNY), which would give his country access to both human and financial resources from its colleges.  There was also a plan to offer scholarships within the CUNY system for teachers and graduate students from the Dominican Republic, which would help his country receive know-how and higher training.  That agreement would be part of a larger education exchange programme to be announced in a few months.  There were already some 30,000 Dominican Republic students in New York.

Tomorrow, he added, he would meet with a group of businessmen in New Jersey, who wanted to invest in the manufacturing of aircraft components in the Dominican Republic.  Another meeting was planned with the Governor of New Jersey.

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