President Leonel Fernandez is reinstated for a third term of office...and resurrects a controversial subject for Cabarete
Leonel Fernandez was re-elected as President in May and officially took office on Saturday.
The President set forth a long list of ambitious projects for his administration. Among these projects are a second north-south Metro line for Santo Domingo, and a train from Haina in the south to northcentral Santiago. He called for an alliance between the public and private sectors in order to construct the infrastructure needed that "will guarantee the transformation of the society." He also talked about a long list of elevated highways, tunnels and roadways in the National District. And he promised more projects for the UASD state university. He also said his government would give priority to the remodeling of the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center and the Plaza de la Cultura in Santo Domingo.
"Una via lateral", or "lane off to the side", for Cabarete was among the list of priority works mentioned by the President in his speech. A Cabarete bypass has been proposed for many years and, whilst many believe it will never happen, is a subject of hot discussion. More news on this as we have it.
Citizens and eligible nationals of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) of the United States need to be aware that beginning 1 August 2008, the US Customs and Border Protection is now asking all to seek authorizations to visit online through the new Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). This does not apply to Dominican nationals, rather to travelers that do not need a visa to enter the US. These VWP travelers are being asked complete an application online seeking authorization to travel to the US. Travelers are encouraged to apply early as effective 12 January 2008, when all VWP travelers will be required to obtain the electronic travel authorization prior to boarding a carrier to travel by air or sea to the US.
VWP countries are Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The Department of Homeland Security recommends that applications be submitted no less than 72 hours prior to travel. In most cases a response will be received within seconds, authorizing travel or not. An authorization to travel is valid, unless revoked, for up to two years or until the traveler's passport expires, whichever comes first. It is also valid for multiple entries into the US. As future trips are planned, or if an applicant's destination addresses or itineraries change after the authorization has been approved, the traveler may easily update that information through the ESTA web site. ESTA explains that the authorization is not a guarantee of admissibility to the US at a port of entry. ESTA approval only authorizes a traveler to board a carrier for travel to the US under the VWP.
For more information, click here.
It's true! Real estate tourism on the North Coast is very attractive and drawing investments from all over the world. Those investors are also constructing everything from tourist attractions to some of the most attractive get away places in the Caribbean. To meet those construction needs many Dominican families have relocated to the North Coast leaving Government services such as health care and schools overwhelmed.
West Indies Real Estate has stepped up to the plate however, to use the baseball vernacular, and is attempting to make a difference in this growing community. This past year West Indies contributed to Island Impact Ministries Eye Surgical Outreach, enabling us to perform over 40 different free eye operations including Cataract surgery. Island Impact hosts this surgical team from Children’s Hospital in Washington D.C. annually and every year there are patients who can’t even afford the basic costs of blood work for surgery let alone the surgery itself. West Indies made that happen for them this year.
West Indies Real Estate has also pledged further support to our clinic in Sosua where we treat more than 7000 people annually through general medical, dental and eye care clinics and where we evaluate and distribute glasses. For 2009 we will add a lab to provide low cost blood work for our patients, two further surgical outreaches: A women’s surgical outreach from Michigan and a plastic surgery outreach from San Francisco, for children with deformities such as cleft palate and we plan to build a new clinic in La Cienga, a poor barrio in Cabarete.
For more details of the work of Island Impact click here.
A Special Thanks to West Indies Real Estate for helping to make this possible!
The Dominican Republic has Latin America's highest tourism receipts per GDP. According to the Latin Business Chronicle (LBC), 11.1% of the country's GDP comes from tourism. Costa Rica with 7.5% and Panama with 6.0% are two other countries with high tourism revenues. The report by LBC reveals that Panama has experienced the largest increase in tourist visitors while Uruguay had the largest increase in revenues derived from tourism. The LBC report indicates that Latin America received a record total of 68.6 million international arrivals last year, an increase of 2.9% since 2006.
West Indies Real Estate makes a considerable proportion of its sales to buyers who are either buying second homes purely for their own use or to those who want a combined holiday home and rental property, some with a view to future retirement in the Dominican Republic.
President Leonel Fernandez has opened the new Institute of Foreign Trade and Business Innovation of the Dominican Republic (I-CEi), a training center for the development of foreign trade and investment. The facility was built at a cost of RD$180 million donated by the Japanese Agency for International Cooperation (JICA). Two Japanese firms, Yamashita Sekkei Inc. and Fujita Corporation, were responsible for the construction. The Japanese ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Shinomiya Nobutaka, emphasized the ties between the two nations and cooperation among governments over the years.
The Institute will contribute to the goal of doubling exports in the next four years. Exports are now at US$6.5 billion. The I-CEi will train executives from large Dominican corporations with exports of US$300 million or more to convert these to global companies and at the same time prepare executives of small and medium-sized businesses so their companies can export.
To view West Indies Real Estate Commercial Listings click here.
Whilst we have always complied with regulations, this article may explain to Canadians thinking of buying in the Dominican Republic why more information may be required of them than previously.
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT CRACKS DOWN ON MONEY LAUNDERING
New federal laws covering money laundering and anti-terrorist financing came into effect across Canada on Monday, which require real estate agents and brokers to collect and verify detailed personal information from buyers and sellers.
The new regulations are part of federal legislation passed in 2007 that requires a number of industries, including the real estate sector, to do more to help stop money laundering and terrorist financing. The regulations are enforced by the federal agency known as the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).
“Real estate agents have had legal obligations under the federal government's push to prevent criminal activity and terrorism since 2001, when Canada's first comprehensive laws to combat money laundering and terrorist financing were introduced," said the president of The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), Calvin Lindberg.
“In the first phase of compliance, real estate agents were required to report only suspicious transactions, or transactions involving more than $10,000 in cash. Now, verified personal information must be kept of the buyer and seller for each and every real estate transaction in Canada. That personal information includes details such as occupation."
Real estate agents are now required to ask for proof of the identity of all buyers or sellers involved in a Canadian real estate transaction. If the client is a corporation, that information must include corporate
documentation, and the names of the corporation’s directors. They must also ascertain if a third party is involved in the transaction.
Also under the new FINTRAC regulations, real estate agents dealing with clients they never meet must also verify personal information. The agency office involved can do this with a service agreement with an agent or mandatary in the area where the client is located. That agent or mandatary must then meet the client, verify the identification of the client, and provide the information to the office actually handling the real estate transaction.
"There are buyers, sellers or investors from other countries who rely on expertise here rather than visiting the property themselves," explained the CREA president. "They must now meet with an official agent of the Canadian broker, and provide proof of identity. This agreement will add to the business costs of the Canadian broker."
In order to comply with these new federal regulations, real estate agents are required to keep this identification and receipt of funds information on file for five years and provide it to FINTRAC if requested. It is the individual agency office that will be responsible for the safe keeping of the information, and the agency that will have to respond to any FINTRAC information request.
Flights to Dominican Rupublic continue despite cutbacks
Whilst some airlines are cutting back on flights to the Dominican Republic in view of increasing transport costs, Jet Blue is adding extra flights to the country and other Caribbean islands to meet the shortfall, as tourism continues to be a major industry in Hispaniola.
In addition, for those who are willing to shop around, some fantastic flight bargains are still to be found.
We look forward to welcoming you to the beautiful Dominican Republic!
Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez says the Dominican Republic has become a popular vacation destination for Swiss travelers. During a press conference in Zurich, Jimenez said that Swiss tourism grew by 7.2% during the first five months of the year and by 25% in May.
The Swiss also favour the Dominican Republic as a place in which to make their permanent home. Some of our most meticulous listings are offered for sale by proud Swiss homeowners, who tend their homes and gardens with love and attention to detail. See Listing 2118, as a fine example.
The Carretera De Samana (Spanish for: Santo Domingo-Samana Highway) is the newest addition to the Dominican Republic national highway system. The actual construction of the Highway started in the 2005 and final paving started in 2007. As the landscape is difficult and the financing has been a major issue, the project stalled on several occasions, but it is now finally open.
The highway will reduce a trip from Santo Domingo to Samana from 4 hours and 30 Minutes to less than 2 hours and is expected to reduce the traffic along the DR1, which is the present highway used to drive to Samana.
The Highway starts on the National highway DR3 (30 KM from Santo Domingo) and ends on Cruse Rinco de Monillos, Samana Province. The highway’s three toll plazas are on the Las Americas interchange and in the villages El Naranjal and Guaraguao, where for each section the toll is 650 pesos for buses, 350 pesos for light vehicles and 860 pesos for trucks. Users are expected to make considerable fuel savings despite these tolls.
AngelaHills, head of Health, Safety and Operational Support at the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) says that British newspapers aren't publishing relevant tourist information provided by the Dominican Tourism promotion office in London. She added that in cases where information is provided, it is relegated to the back page of the papers. Hills said that when bad news happens it is then plastered on the front page of the newspapers. Dominican ambassador to Great Britain Anibal de Castro has also spoken out about the increasing negative press the DR is receiving in the British press. Hills added that most of the reports in British papers are attributed to ambulance chasing lawyers who want to represent travelers who might have fallen ill while in the DR. Last year the DR received 225,157 British tourists, many of whom return year after year. Whilst there is no room for complacency, many of the "dodgy tummies" etc. can be attributed to over-indulgence in the all inclusive resorts and/or too much sun.
ALL PERSONS traveling by air outside of the United States are required to present a passport or other valid travel document to enter or re-enter the United States.
LAND AND SEA TRAVEL
The following summarizes information available on the Department of Homeland Security’s website.
CURRENTLY:
U.S. citizens need to present either (a) a passport, passport card (available from spring 2008), or WHTI-compliant document; or (b) a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, along with proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.
LATER:
On June 1, 2009, the U.S. government will implement the full requirements of the land and sea phase of WHTI. The proposed rules require most U.S. citizens entering the United States at sea or land ports of entry to have a passport, passport card, or WHTI-compliant document.
Note: The passport requirement does NOT apply to U.S. citizens traveling to or returning directly from a U.S. territory
The Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic, Carlos Morales Troncoso, addressed a Parliamentary meeting of Peers and MPs during his recent visit to London. Members of the CBBC and Anglo Dominican Trade Council also attended the meeting.
During his speech, the Minister spoke about the recent Presidential elections in the Dominican Republic and President Fernandez’s vision for the country for his second term in office. Carlos Morales said that the Government remains wholly committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and improving health and education for all Dominicans.He however noted a number of challenges for the country including food security, climate change and severe weather events, and the price of oil and its impact for the price of transport, energy and agricultural products. The DR he suggested can help internationally with these challenges, for example, acting as the bread-basket for the region in terms of food production, and increasing its production of ethanol and other renewable forms of energy; however, he emphasized that the DR will need support from international partners to achieve this.He also said that outcome of the elections confirmed the strength of democracy in the Dominican Republic and its increasing commitment to a less fragmented party system.
A rare, Leatherback Turtle appeared on Cabarete Beach just over two months ago and promptly laid her eggs in front of one of the main restaurants. Since then, residents and tourists alike have maintained a strong interest in the creature, which is an endangered species. A guard has been mounted over the eggs, which are due to hatch any day now.
The last time such a turtle ventured into the tourist zone of Cabarete was over 10 years ago, when 101 turtles hatched. Unfortunately, few of these would have survived the precarious journey that followed to the ocean and adulthood.
Eminent US naturalist Edward Osborne Wilson, on visiting the Dominican Republic for the second time, has urged the DR to increase funding for its protected areas, given that the country still boasts the greatest biodiversity in the Caribbean. He argued that protection makes economic sense because several valuable species inhabit these areas, which are of great interest to the scientific community and medical researchers. The DR has 86 protected areas that cover 12% of the national territory.
Wilson collected important amber pieces with insect inclusions that are on exhibit at Harvard University. He says that he found remains of a million year old insect that today only still exists in Australia.
On the occasion of his visit, the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation presented the 2008 film, "Darwin's Natural Heir," on the life of Wilson, who is a collaborator in research carried out at the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation and its Sustainability Center.
Visitors to the North Coast will find the Amber Museum in Puerto Plata of great interest.
ALL PERSONS traveling by air outside of the United States are required to present a passport or other valid travel document to enter or re-enter the United States.
Fax: (+1) 809.571.2860