Universities Agree to Promote New Businesses

Six of the country’s universities have committed to promote, advance and strengthen the ecosystem of entrepreneurship through the creation of university entrepreneur centers. These efforts form part of the cooperation agreement with the National Competitiveness Council (CNC) and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and will be carried out within the articulation framework of the national science, technology and innovation project.

In addition, the universities have agreed to identify, validate, support, implement and diffuse information about the actions necessary to improve and better develop the business climate in the Dominican Republic .

To set the plan in action, the universities will set up Entrepreneur Centers and/or Business Incubators on campus making them responsible for the operation and maintenance of the programs.

In addition, the universities have agreed to identify, validate, support, implement and diffuse information about the actions necessary to improve and better develop the business climate in the Dominican Republic .  

The agreement was signed by Andrés van der Horst Álvarez, Secretary of State and Director of the National Competitiveness Council; Ligia Amado Melo, Minister of Higher Education, and each one of the rectors of the six participating universities. The universities involved in the program are the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo , the Spanish-American University , the Madre and Maestra Catholic Pontifical University , the Santo Domingo Institute of Technology, the Catholic Tech University of Cibao (UCATCI) and the APEC University . 

Mr. Van der Horst Álvarez welcomed the initiative, saying that “it strengthens the creation of new companies and ultimately creates jobs, thus boosting the national economy.” He added that this initiative “forms part of the application of the National Plan of Systemic Competitiveness which we are jointly implementing with the SEESCYT in that which is related to the National System of Technological Innovation and Development (SNIDT).

In a display of a firm institutional commitment to strengthen the SNIDT, CNC Director Van der Horst Álvarez gave the participating university rectors computers, projectors, printers and UPS to be used at the business incubation centers of their schools.

The recently-formed Dominican Network of Business and Entrepreneur Incubators, known in Spanish as Dominicana Incuba, invited the universities to form part of this organization whose main goal is to improve the competitive capacity of the Dominican Republic and to improve the positioning of the productive sectors to gain new business opportunities.