The General Directorate of Public Private Partnerships (DGAPP), commemorated this Tuesday the 4th. Anniversary of the promulgation of Law 47-20, the regulatory framework for projects that will be executed in the country under the PPP model.
In a Thanksgiving Mass held at the Primate Cathedral of America, the executive director of the DGAPP, Sigmund Freund, highlighted that the institution currently has a Project Bank with 26 initiatives, 17 of them with an investment 
estimated US$2,510.7 million.
He stated that, as a PPP Unit and in record time compared to other countries in the region, they have managed to position the Dominican Republic as a benchmark for good practices in public-private alliances and among the six countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with the best regulation and institutionality, above Costa Rica, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Jamaica, and others.
He noted that in 2023, as a great milestone in PPP history, they awarded and signed the contract for the execution of the first infrastructure work that will be developed in the country under the model, the conversion of Puerto Duarte de Arroyo Barril in Samaná into a terminal of Cruises. “It gives me great satisfaction to tell you that next month our President will be breaking ground for the start of this work, definitely a great achievement.”
The official also referred to the Ámbar Highway project, indicating that next month they will be announcing its award and that the start of its construction is scheduled for the middle of this year.
“Another milestone for the Dominican Government and the DGAPP, as it will be the work of greatest socioeconomic importance for the Northern Region and the second infrastructure work that will be materialized through a public-private alliance, under the mandate of Law 47-20,” Freund emphasized, in the central words of the homily.
Likewise, the executive director of the DGAPP indicated that they are working with other high priority initiatives for the country, such as the Santo Domingo Metropolitan Train, the Verón Punta Cana Aqueduct, and the Judicial City project, whose objective is to concentrate all the buildings in the Judicial Power corresponding to the National District in a single judicial center.
Regarding the Cabo Rojo Tourism Project in Pedernales, Freund highlighted everything achieved in 2023 in terms of progress in the works and the arrival in January of the first cruise ship, as a historical milestone and a sign of the definitive start of the new destination in the Southern region. . He reiterated that in March President Luis Abinader will be breaking ground for the construction of the international airport and that by the end of 2024 the first hotel, of the nine that are contemplated in the first phase of the project, will begin operations.
“I want you to know that after almost four years of being at the head of the DGAPP, if we went back in time and the President assigned me this role again, literally, this role (because that is what they gave us, a law on a piece of paper, as the only starting point), we would once again accept the challenge of building this institution from scratch and without thinking about it, leaving a mark and everything achieved in terms of PPP,” Freund expressed at the conclusion of his words.