Above: Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez (Photo: OP)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez is proposing the creation of a fund to finance micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the region.

The momentum for these kinds of companies would attract employment generation and social integration, according to Fernandez, who was speaking at the Sixth Summit of the Americas in Cartagena.

“It will take, baed on cooperation and international solidarity, the creation of a special fund to serve as a credit to the creation or establishment of these kinds of businesses,” he said.

The fund would also provide technical assistance for human resource training, product development, technology transfer and other skills.

“In short, there are various projects and programmes which could be designed to reduce poverty and achieve overall employment and social cohesion,” he said.

The President said that, while Latin America has made strides in the financial sector, “weaknesses and difficulties remain” with the persistence of poverty and social inequality in the region.

Part of that has come from the rapid urbanization and industrialization of the region.