Food Development Plan Announced

President Leonel Fernández announced that a Food Development Plan will be undertaken in coordination with the public and private sectors. He also pledged that the Dominican Republic will successfully come out of the food crisis affecting the world.

Fernández said the creation of the organization will play an important role in the DR in the face of the food crisis

The President said that imported products are now more expensive than those produced in the country which represents an opportunity to increase domestic production.

President Fernández was speaking at the swearing in of the Food Security Council of the Dominican Republic at the Superior Agricultural Institute in La Herradura, Santiago.

Fernández said the creation of the organization will play an important role in the DR in the face of the food crisis. He guaranteed that the Food Development Plan will create a situation in which imports will be based on competitiveness and, to the end, a series of measures will be implemented.

Among the measures, the President cited the duty free importation of equipment and machinery, the identification of external resources that favor farmers, the creation of duty free agricultural and agro-industrial zones and the support for the Superior Agricultural Institute for it to train the agricultural sector in high technology, according to information from the President’s Office.