The managing director of Development Policies and Alliances of the World Bank Group, Mari Pangestu, begins this Monday a cycle of visits in the Dominican Republic with the purpose of meeting with government officials and development partners; She will also lead the launch of the new Alliance Framework with the Caribbean country, together with the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD), which describes the work program of the World Bank Group for the period 2022-2026.
During his first day of visit, Pangestu will meet with the Vice President of the Dominican Republic, Raquel Peña, and the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Miguel Ceara Hatton, accompanied by the World Bank Director for Central America and the Dominican Republic, Michel Kerf. , and the resident representative of the World Bank in the country, Alexandria Valerio.
Minister Ceara Hatton was very hopeful about Pangestu’s visit, and stressed that it will be a new opportunity to exchange and deepen the relations of cooperation and support that the World Bank has given to the Dominican Republic. “We recognize the extraordinary support that the World Bank is giving us to achieve our goals of improving people’s quality of life; this entity has a broad agenda of development and investment issues in sectors that are currently priorities, such as water, recovery, and the electricity sector”.
As part of this visit, it is contemplated to strengthen the ties of cooperation for the sustainable development of the Country, for which several meetings are also included with authorities such as the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Víctor (Ito) Bisonó; the director of the National Competitiveness Council, Peter Prazmowski, and the director of Pro-Dominicana, Bibiana Riveiro, as well as economists, representatives of the private sector and the international community, partners and donors.
On the second day of her visit, Mrs. Pangestu will make a brief tour to assess the progress in the implementation of the Social Protection project financed by the World Bank, and observe how it has transformed the socioeconomic conditions of its participants with productive activities of training and entrepreneurship, as well as substantial improvements in housing with the replacement of dirt floors with cement.
Mari Pangestu leads and oversees the work program of the World Bank’s Global Practice Groups, the research and data group (Development Economics Vice Presidency), and the External and Corporate Relations function. She leads efforts to enhance the impact of the World Bank’s collective development knowledge to advance goals that help eradicate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in a sustainable way.