President Participates in Ibero-American Summit in Portugal and Makes State Visit to France

Dominican President Leonel Fernández, traveled on Friday to Portugal via Spain to participate in the XIX Ibero-America Heads of States and Government Summit and will pay an official visit to France. In both places, the President will hold meetings with investors. President Fernández left at 11:10 pm from Las Americas International Airport on an Iberia commercial flight. He was seen off by National Palace protocol personnel and Military Chiefs of Staff.

On Sunday the 29th, the President and his delegation will then travel to Lisbon, Portugal and immediately hold meetings with Portuguese investors and businesspeople…

The President’s itinerary includes holding important private meetings with various personalities in Spain, according to the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

On Sunday the 29th, the President and his delegation will then travel to Lisbon, Portugal and immediately hold meetings with Portuguese investors and businesspeople interested in the Dominican market.

On Sunday evening, the official Dominican delegation will travel to Estoril to take part in the inauguration of the Ibero- American Summit that will take place in the Jeronimos Monastery.

Those scheduled to address the opening of the summit include the Ibero-American Secretary General, the Secretary General of the United Nations, the President of El Salvador, the Prime Minister of Portugal and the President of Portugal.

On Monday, President Fernandez will attend a breakfast hosted by Spain’s King Juan Carlos I and Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in honor of the Heads of State participating in the international summit.

Afterward the official opening of the XIX Ibero-America Summit will take place in which the President and Prime Minister of Portugal and other heads of state and government will speak.

Once the opening ceremony is finished, the Dominican President will sign a financial agreement between the National Housing Bank and the Caixa Geral de Depósitos Bank.

The president’s official agenda will continue with an interview with reporters from the prestigious newspaper, Le Fígaro, after which he will attend a dinner being offered by the Portuguese President to the visiting Heads of State and Governments.

On Tuesday, December 1st the second plenary session of the XIX Summit will conclude with a press conference where participants will offer details on the points of agreement reached in the international event.

Later that evening, the Dominican President and his delegation will travel to Lisbon where they will visit the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon and meet with the board of directors.

He will also visit French universities and institutes, meet with the press, have lunch with intellectuals then inaugurate the Juan Bosch School in the Creteil Academy.

This same day, the President will travel to Paris where he will be interviewed by Le Monde newspaper then later visit board members of the Institute of the Americas.

On Wednesday the 2nd, Fernández will meet with French President Nicolás Sarkozy then participate in a breakfast with the Paris Circle of Economists followed by a visit to the National Assembly then lunch with French intellectual Jacques Attali.

After leaving the Elíseo Palace, President Fernández will speak with the media briefly then attend a book launch of the collected works of Juan Bosch followed by a reception at the Latin America House.

On Thursday, the President will hold talks with French businesspeople who will propose an investment project with the DR. He’ll then meet the new Director of UNESCO followed by a meeting with members of the Development Center.

He will also visit French universities and institutes, meet with the press, have lunch with intellectuals then inaugurate the Juan Bosch School in the Creteil Academy.

During his stay in France, he will also get together with the Dominican community before leaving the country on December 5th for New York on his way home the following Monday, December 7th in the early evening.

The delegation accompanying the President to Portugal includes the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Temístocles Montás, and Administrative Minister, Luis Manuel Bonetti; Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister, Ligia Amado Melo; Presidential Legal Advisor, Abel Rodríguez del Orbe; Rafael Núñez from the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity and the Director of the Center for Exports and Investment in the Dominican Republic, Eddy Martínez.

Those travelling to France with the President included Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso; Tourism Minister, Francisco Javier García; Víctor Díaz Rúa, Minister of Public Works; Labor Minister, Maximiliano Puig, and the architect Joaquín Gerónimo, Director of the National Housing Bank.

In addition, a group of business people who will meet with their French counterparts, is also traveling with the President: José Miguel Bonetti, Félix García, Manuel Alejandro Grullón and his wife Rosa de Grullón, José Clase, Manuel Corripio and Mícalo Bermúdez.