#2020WCA Video: Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic
#2020WCA Video: Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic
The newly installed head of state discussed plans to reboot tourism, develop the energy sector, promote inclusion through technology, and more.
Speakers:
- Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic
- Andrés Gluski, Chairman, Americas Society/Council of the Americas; CEO, The AES Corporation (interviewer)
- Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas (welcome)
“One of the few good things of this pandemic, because of the virtual obligation that we have, is that what was going to take five years to do, now we’re doing in five months,” said Dominican President Luis Abinader in a keynote address as part of the 2020 Washington Conference on the Americas virtual series. As such, technology can help improve educational inclusion, he said. The president, who took office in August, talked with Andrés Gluski about his plans for energy reform and rebooting the Caribbean’s largest economy in the wake of the pandemic. Along with promoting Dominican exports and attracting more foreign direct investment, tourism will be a key driver of the recovery, said Abinader, who noted that at the moment, hotel reservations are at 50 percent of their levels at this point last year, which, all things considered, “is not bad.”
