Visiting Dominican Leaders Engage with GFDD and ECLAC

Fifty young visiting Dominican leaders converged on the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) DC headquarters today to gain knowledge and inspiration on their paths of professional development. Introduced by Semiramis de Miranda, Acting Co-Executive Director of GFDD, the leaders attended a presentation from Dr. Inés Bustillo, Director, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) Washington Office and stayed for
a screening of La Montaña (The Mountain).

In her presentation, Dr. Bustillo focused on explaining the role of the ECLAC to the audience and detailed its outlook for the future of Latin American economies. Bustillo elaborated on development issues being a function of a country’s external environment, stating that “The most important thing is that (economic) growth is sustained.” She also spoke of the
challenges of dynamically lower growth and the middle-income trap in which many Latin American economies find themselves. To combat growth stagnation, Bustillo brought up the topic of innovation, positing that “in recent years, the issue of how to innovate has emerged; it’s something that is really changing…” in today’s economic environment.

Among many other topics, participants asked Dr. Bustillo about the effects of multilateral and bilateral agreements on international investment flows. Following the Q&A session, Bustillo concluded her remarks by transitioning to the topic of economic integration in Latin America, stating “Much more is needed in the development of a great vision for the region,” which is the principal challenge of Latin America. The presentation concluded, the visiting
leaders presented Bustillo with a souvenir from their university, the oldest in the Americas.

Afterwards, de Miranda presented GFDD’s institutional video to the attendees and remarked on the professional development implications of exchanges like the one that had just concluded. She then underlined the key role that personal and professional motivation plays and began the screening of Tabaré Blanchard and Ivan Herrera’s La Montaña.
In a special post-screening videoconference, Herrera took questions from the audience and discussed his inspirations in making the film. He spoke about the struggle of man vs. mountain, stating “We are really very small next to everything around us.” Whether in personal life, school, or work, “Each person has their own mountain to climb,” Herrera remarked to conclude the conversation.

The Visiting Leaders Program is an initiative of
the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in the United States which focuses on training future Dominican leaders and enhancing their personal and professional leadership development in leading U.S. cities such as Washington, DC and New York. Coordinated by Angie Martinez, Officer at the Embassy of the Dominican Republic, participants in the program are university students at the upper echelons of their class. This group of visiting Dominican leaders marks the 8th such group to visit the United
States.

The day’s activities make up just one part of the strategic alliance between GFDD and the ECLAC, under the collaborative framework laid out in a meeting between Dr. Leonel Fernández, former President of the Dominican Republic and current President of GFDD/Funglode, and Dr. Inés Bustillo.

VIEW PRESENTATION >

About the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC):
Established by the UN Economic and Social Council resolution 106(VI) of February 25th, 1948, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations. It was founded with the purpose of contributing to the social and economic development of Latin America, coordinating actions directed towards this end, and reinforcing
economic ties among countries and with other nations of the world. It is headquartered in Santiago, Chile, and has sub regional headquarters in Mexico City, Mexico and Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It maintains a liaison office in Washington, DC.

About Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD):
The Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), sister organization of FUNGLODE in the United States is a non-partisan
and non-profit organization dedicated to promote the collaboration among organizations in the United States and the Dominican Republic in order to conduct research, enhance public debate, design public policy, propose strategies and provide training to facilitate change in crucial areas of the social, economic and democratic development of the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean and Latin America.

More information:
https://www.cepal.org/en
http://drembassyusa.org/