Economic Development Summit: Eliminating barriers and building the future

Economic Development Summit: Eliminating barriers and building the future

This was the title of the event held at the Puerto Rico Convention Center by the Department of Economic Development and Commerce.

They were expecting 350 attendees and more than 650 showed up and I must say that this entity did a great job in handling more people than they were expecting.

I have been attending events sponsored by government agencies for a very long time and this is the first time ever that I get a CD with a copy of every presentation and also a paper copy, right there in the event.

My congratulations to the organizers for an event well thought out and executed.

We are living in very difficult times and difficult times require extraordinary efforts in order to be able to move a State, a Commonwealth or a Country out of recession.

With a budget deficit of over 3 billion dollars and an overall debt of over 50 billion, taking over the economy of Puerto Rico is not an easy task.

The island’s credit was a very important and critical issue facing this administration and the fact that the credit rating has been rated as stable by Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s is quite an accomplishment.

Look, you may be with or against this government, but you can’t argue against facts. It is a fact that the credit rating has improved and it is a fact that Cofina bonds in the amount of 4.1 billion have been sold in the mainland and 1.0 here in Puerto Rico. For this to have happened there is no doubt that accrediting entities and investors are putting their trust in Puerto Rico, because they are putting their money where their mouth is.

I know Carlos Garcia, now heading the Government Development Bank; personally, he was my client when he worked for Banco Santander and I know that he is extremely smart and a very hard worker. He knows what he is doing and the market is giving him and his team a vote of confidence.

In a few months, steps have been taken to stabilize the economy, protect and strengthen Puerto Rico’s credit rating and move towards a rebuilding of the economy.

This is not easy my friends, this is very difficult and for this to happen everyone must pull together.

Whenever I listen to the radio talk hosts in the different radio stations, I have to make an effort so as not to fall into depression. Most of these guys, not all, either believe or they want us to believe that we are going down the tube. They are like disinformation agents hired to create panic and destroy whatever hope we might have in the future.

They often lie and invent stuff that it just isn’t so. Bernie, a friend, was telling me that he heard one of them say on radio that the Federal Reserve was owned by Chase Manhattan and other banks. This is, not only untrue, it is a blatant lie.
The press, the responsible press, holds a very important role in society: Be the watchdog and protect the people from irresponsible government, but it must be done responsibly.

An important point made in the conference was that Puerto Rico must think BIG in order to be successful in today’s global economy. We as a society have the capacity, the human resources to act, to take action, and what is very important, we have to let go of the fear that sometimes paralyzes us and that is constantly being reinforced by some elements in the media, especially radio.

Not all are bad news. There are over 5,438, million dollars to be invested in fifteen programs and one hundred initiatives. Over 250 schools will be renovated, because 70 millions will be invested there. Another 175 million will be directed to public housing projects so that they can be renovated. That will also create 1700 jobs. It goes on and on, the amount of projects that are in the works.

They told us that the private public alliances will mean an investment of 4, 214.1 millions and will create 143,278 jobs. These PPA’s have been very effective in other countries and there is no reason why they won’t work here.

The government’s vision of Roosevelt Roads was unveiled. They plan to create a world class tourism and entertainment project. It will create 40,000 jobs and it will reactivate the economy of the east, including Vieques and Culebra. It has been five years since the Navy left and nothing has been done. Millions of dollars were taken out of our economy and they have not been replaced. It is urgent that the Roosevelt Roads project is built.

Jaime Gonzalez, the gentleman in charge of the project said that the 78 Mayors in Puerto Rico have given the backing to this project. I wonder if it is the first time that this has ever happened, get unanimous support for a project. I hope that this time around, something happens and we don’t continue wasting time and money.

During the past administration, my friend Tito Colorado was put in charge of that project. Several times we discussed it and to tell you the truth, he had a great idea of turning it into a commerce, science and technology development with several universities interested in participating. I know he worked real hard for that to happen and poured his heart into it, and it is definitely a disappointment that nothing came out of it. But, you know, politics is politics and I guess we haven’t matured enough to understand that when a different party wins the election, it doesn’t mean that everything the previous party did is wrong and must be discarded. Hey, good ideas are worth keeping, no matter who thought about them.


Manufacturing, tourism, medical tourism, energy, the film industry, pharmaceutical, bio technology and medical devices companies, there is just so much potential in this small but powerful little island.

The “Isla Verde” energy fund, created in order to lessen our dependence in fossil fuels, should generate an investment of $2 billion in energy projects by the year 2012. I sure hope they can do it although it seems to be a very optimistic figure.

We are such a rich and diverse society that the future can be very bright. We only have to get rid of fear and we have to have more trust in our institutions.

If we elected a government by an overwhelming majority, then it is everyone’s duty to help the government reach its goals or if you don’t want to help, at least get out of the way.
In the meantime, the government must work as a team, even if that means getting Superman, Wonder Woman and even Batman to work together.