Young business leaders: The good & bad of Medina’s speech

Santo Domingo.- The head of the young business leaders grouped in the ANJE on Sunday called president Danilo Medina’s state of the country speech positive, citing progress in education and electricity, as stipulated in the National Development Strategy 2010-2030.

Biviana Riveiro Disla also lauded Medina’s analysis on the 7% economic growth during 2014, accompanied by a stable macro economic environment.

She noted however the President’s failure to address the need for a Comprehensive Fiscal Pact and the passing of a Fiscal Responsibility Law as established by the National Development Strategy, which she called vital to ensure Dominican Republic’s stable business climate.

"It’s critical for us to define a strategy that seeks to improve the efficiency and quality of public spending through the proper management of state funds and measures to criminalize corrupt practices," Riveiro said.

The president of ANJE lauded the government’s significant spending on infrastructure, despite what she defines as a limited budget.

She noted however that Medina failed to mention the problem of freight of and passenger transport, which in her view requires legislation to reform the sector. "We must find an integral and consensual solution to the transport sector’s problems, as one of the main hurdles to improve competitiveness of the local production sectors, necessary to reduce Dominican Republic’s trade deficit.”