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The most important farm and agribusiness event of the year, Agroalimentaria 09 opens today, Wednesday 4 March at Santo Domingo’s Dominican Fiesta Convention Center. The event continues through Saturday, 7 March and provides a marketplace for local producers to connect with buyers from around the world. A total of 70 buyers have confirmed their attendance, and the US$112 million in sales generated at the previous Agroalimentaria 2007 are expected to be surpassed. Mario Velazquez, coordinator for Agroalimentaria 2009, said that foreign buyers, hotel chains and supermarket chains are among the leading buyers. Osmar Benitez, executive vice president of the Dominican Agribusiness Council (JAD) said that 15 Japanese businesspeople are among the 103 foreign buyers.
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Acelis Angeles Vargas, deputy technical director of CEI-RD, said that the fair connects producers of farm produce and processed foods, beverages and tobacco products with buyers. Buyers are also coming from the USA, Puerto Rico, [...]

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The Viva telecommunications company has announced plans to invest US$250 million in service development during the 2009 calendar year. During a press conference at the Hotel Embajador, Viva CEO Jean Carlos Sandy said that Viva would continue to develop its GSM and CDMA networks while introducing EVDO high-speed technology to better serve the company’s more than 500,000 users. EVDO stands for Evolution, Data Optimized and is a new telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access. With the introduction of EvDO Viva seeks to become the nation’s leader in mobile phone Internet service.

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Economy, Planning and Development Minister Temistocles Montas says that there will be a 3% decrease (currently 19% of GDP) in public spending in the DR in 2009 due to a reduction in access to credit and a decrease in tax collections. Montas was speaking during a conference organized by the General Secretariat of the Ibero-American Summit, held in Oporto, Portugal. He added the decrease in spending goes against the general trend in Latin America, where most countries are preparing to up their public spending. During his speech Montas urged representatives from multilateral organizations to review the conditions under which they lend money, while also encouraging countries in need of loans to be more careful in how they distribute the money lent.

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According to Hoy, there is a chance that the DR could access an extra US$360 million in loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Currently the DR has access to as much as US$640 million in loans. Negotiations between both sides have commenced with discussions centering round liquidity, emergency relief funds and the effects of the international financial crisis. Hoy quoted IDB representative Carlos Galvis who was in the DR yesterday speaking at a workshop organized by the Ministry of Economy Planning and Development.

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During his official visit to Cuba that began on Monday, President Leonel Fernandez met with former Cuban President Fidel Castro. Fernandez said they discussed the world financial crisis, problems in the DR and Latin America, Dominican history and politics and the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
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As reported in the Miami Herald, the Dominican President said that they also talked about the possibility of developing exchange programs with the Cuban Art and Film Industry and Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institutes. Fernandez said he told Castro about his government’s interest in signing agreements with Cuba in the agricultural and educational sectors, and expressed a particular interest in the highly successful Cuban literacy program Yo Si Puedo.
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Fernandez commented that the 50-year US trade embargo with Cuba is a failed policy, which is likely to be reconsidered by US President Barack Obama.
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During his visit, Fernandez is expected to attend [...]

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Questions are being raised about whether so-called energy saving light bulbs might cause cold-weather Canadians to burn more energy to heat their homes than if they were to use regular light bulbs.

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U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy has been granted an honorary U.K. knighthood, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.

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Sri Lanka’s cricket team returned home to Colombo early Wednesday, as police in Pakistan searched for at least 12 gunmen believed responsible for the attack that left seven people dead.div class=”feedflare”
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Was UK prime minister’s US trip a success or failure?

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Having sex three times a week and snuggling on the couch four times a day are among the keys to a perfect marriage, according to a U.K. survey released Wednesday.

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