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LAUNCH OF THE FIRST WORLD FAIR OF ECOTOURISM AND PRODUCTION.

May 8, 2014 UTT Amphitheatre, National Academy for the Performing Arts /NAPA,

Port of Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

PRESENTATION OF AMBASSADOR JOSE SERULLE AND DR. JACQUELINE BOIN,

FOUNDER PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT OF THE SCIENCE AND ART FOUNDATION

We are pleased to inform the people, institutions and companies of Trinidad and Tobago and representatives of other countries and international and regional organizations that the FIRST WORLD ECOTOURISM AND PRODUCTION FAIR will be held from October 18th to 26, 2014 in Santiago de los Caballeros, the second most important city of the Dominican Republic, located in the north of the country.

The activity is organized by the Science and Art Foundation and the City Council of Santiago de los Caballeros.

This is the 18th edition of the ecotourism and production fair that organizes the Science and Art Foundation. After we have celebrated seventeen (17) fairs of ecotourism and production, 12 national and 5 binational with Haiti, mostly in rural or suburban zones, the Science and Art Foundation is organizing its first world fair.

This fair will take place in a special context for the Science and Art Foundation. This dominican institution was born in 1989 and celebrates its 25th anniversary. In 25 years, a lot of work has been accomplished in association with public and private sectors of the Dominican Republic and also international institutions.

The venue of the fair will be the Central Park of Santiago de los Caballeros, a medium sized city, in an international level, with one million inhabitants , a very important production, business, historical and cultural centre for the country and the greater Caribbean. It is surrounded by farming areas and mountainous ecosystems that represent also a valuable potential for the development of sustainable tourism.

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Ambassador Jose Serulle and Dr. Jacqueline Boin, Founder-President and President of the Science and Art Foundation present the 1st World Fair of Ecotourism and Production in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and Art

The purposes of the fair are to facilitate the sharing of experiences on how to preserve cultural and biological diversity worldwide for human development, solidarity amongst peoples and peace. Furthermore, the fair aims to discuss policies and technologies to build high quality environmental cities. In particular, it is important to position cities like Santiago de los Caballeros on the world map of sustainable tourism, productive investment and use of green technologies.

The fair is organized in collaboration with the public sector of the Dominican Republic, business associations, regional and international cooperation bodies, tourist and environmental protection entities as well as municipal and community councils.

The First World Fair of Ecotourism and Production will be both educational and commercial. The educational activities include a scientific programme with lectures and workshops, exhibitions, artistic presentations and cultural workshops, excursions and sports. The commercial part includes exhibitions and the sale of products, services and technologies and business round tables.

The artistic and cultural programme that will take place every day from 6:00 p.m. until midnight will gather the folklore, danse and music of the Caribbean people and the world as a live expression of cultural diversity. These artistic manifestations will represent a real festival of human creativity.

It will also host the First World Youth Camp, organized by the Municipal Council of Santiago and the International Youth Fellowship, in which young people from more than thirty countries will participate.

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Ambassadors, Representatives of Tobago House of Assembly, of AMCHAM, FAO, travel agencies, among others attending the launch of the 1st World Fair of Ecotourism and Production in NAPA, Port of Spain

Why Santiago de Los Caballeros?_

Santiago de los Caballeros was the first Santiago created in the Americas. The economy of Santiago represents more than 15% of the GDP of the country.

It is in Santiago that the cultivation and commerce of dominican tobacco were born. The principal centre of tobacco and cigarettes of the Dominican Republic is in Santiago. In Santiago was also born the modern industry of the dominican rhum in 1852.

The city has a direct influence on fifteen provinces of the north region of the country called El Cibao. This region is the main agricultural and cattle raising centre of the Dominican Republic. In this region located between the northern and central mountain ranges, lie the main water sources of the country. In these mountains, you also find the most important places where ecotourism is practiced.

Santiago is situated at an hour from the traditional touristic city of Puerto Plata, with its surroundings of coasts and mountains.

Santiago is located at 50 or 60 kilometers from the most important centers of cultivation of cocoa and rice and the cities of San Francisco de Macoris, La Vega y Moca. It is also on the religious route of Santo Cerro.

Santiago de Los Caballeros has been the theatre of many important historical events in the struggle for independence and freedom of the Dominican people. It has an historical commercial centre, typical wooden houses, and monuments that are related to its history in favor of independence. It is also the cradle of great painters, musicians, and other artists.

It has a good hotel infrastructure and its capacity to lodge tourists in family houses is well known. The visit of Santiago is traditionnaly done in carriages.

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Santiago is the municipality which has the best level of business organizations. It hosts the bigger universities and the main institute of agricultural studies, the Superior Institute of Agriculture.

Being the geographical, cultural and economic heart of the country, Santiago is named the Ciudad Corazon.

For a sustainable development and biological and cultural diversity

In the educational sphere, the fair of ecotourism and production fosters ecological consciousness and preservation of cultural identity and promotes, in the places where it has been held, local sustainable development. Ecotourism and sustainable tourism in general are presented as local options of human progress.

In the Municipality of Santiago de Los Caballeros, the city Council and the Science and Art Foundation want to promote a municipal sustainable development that combines rural and urban areas.

Sustainable development is about integral development, that is comprehensive to all areas and profitable for the community as a whole, without exclusion. That means that the environment must be respected and natural resources used in a rational way. This means also that public and private companies which produce goods or services must be responsible in matters of labour relations. Environmental and social responsibility of companies will be an important topic of the scientific programme of the fair.

The main issues treated and debated within the scientific programme will be: 1.- An introduction to the world environmental issue and to the concept of sustainable cities and municipalities; 2.- Criteria for the development of a sustainable municipality and experiences of different countries: environment, territorial and risk of disaster management, infrastructures, renewable energies, water and sanitary systems, governance, role of culture, corporate social and environmental responsibility; 3.- Sustainable tourism, including ecotourism and the preservation of cultural and historical heritage; 4.- Santiago de Los Caballeros Municipality: diagnosis, potential and development policies.

A world fair

In the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Science and Art Foundation, we wanted to mark this important date with the celebration of a fair of great dimension and impact. This fair will be international and will be held for the first time in a city, considered as medium sized on an international level. To the instruments that the fair of ecotourim usually recommends for local sustainable development in rural or suburban areas, we will add the tools for urban sustainable development.

Of the seventeen fairs we have celebrated, five were binationals, organized together with haitian institutions on the border of Dominican Republic and Haiti. In 2015 and 2016, we will return to our frontier route, celebrating the fair in Comendador (Dominican Republic) and Las Cahobas (Haiti).

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This year the ecotourism fair is a world fair. That means first that many countries will participate in it. Many countries have already confirmed their participation. The Science and Art Foundation and the City Council of Santiago are working hard to have a great number of countries and international organizations attend the fair.

It is a world fair because we want to hear about the experiences of sustainable development of other countries in order to enrich the development strategy of Santiago, adapting them of course to the reality of this particular city. Even more important than that, is that we can bring the experience of Santiago de Los Caballeros to the world.

The motto of the fair is: for biological and cultural diversity. We want through the recommendations that will be made for the development of Santiago , to participate in the universal fight to protect the planet, to achieve a fair and human development , to preserve cultural identity, to foster solidarity and mutual respect among diverse peoples to make possible a sustainable world peace.

One of the purpose of the fair is to propose new strategies and policies of sustainable development that can be used as guidelines for other cities and countries in the region of the Greater Caribbean and other parts of the world.

An important opportunity for commercial exchange

This year the fair will give a significant place to commerce and investment. The fair will be much more than an exchange of experiences about defining policies and strategies. It will be the scene of commercial contacts and exchanges, as well as an opportunity to place and to attract profitable investments. The fair will promote business on a basis of preserving cultural and natural heritage.

We estimate that around 50,000 people will be present at the fair each day to visit its pavilions, to attend its conferences and its artistic presentations. That will represent a good audience for cultural exchanges and to market goods, services and projects.

Hundreds of companies and institutions from all around the world will be present displaying goods , technologies, touristic products and services in general. Many municipalities and city councils from the Dominican Republic and other countries will be at the fair with their portfolio of needs and projects, expecting to make contacts with financing and investment companies or institutions. To facilitate direct face to face business contacts, we will hold in the fair daily business round tables. These will be led by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Santiago.

The importance of Trinidad & Tobago participation in the fair

For the Science and Art Foundation, the City council of Santiago and for the Dominican Republic, it is of great interest to have Trinidad and Tobago participate in the fair. Trinidad and Tobago as a lot to show to the world and a lot to learn from other experiences.

Trinidad and Tobago produces oil and natural gas and is concerned about the clean exploitation of these fossil fuel resources.

Trinidad and Tobago gives a special importance to corporate social responsibility.

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With its multicultural policy, Trinidad and Tobago has a very interesting way of preserving social peace among the different ethnic groups, to keep unity in diversity.

It will be an opportunity for Tobago whose economy is based on sustainable tourism to visit the Dominican Republic and to hear about our experience in tourism development.

Trinidad and Tobago and Dominican economies are complementary. This country produces oil, gas and petrochemical products and imports most of the food that is consumed. The Dominican Republic produces a lot of agricultural and manufactured goods and must import all of its oil and gas products.

We could promote an increase of exchange of tourists, people of the Dominican Republic traveling to Trinidad and Tobago and viceversa.

This is a Caribbean fair. From this Caribbean space we want to project the Caribbean to the world.

In this context, it is an honour for us to make a call to all interested persons, companies , organizations, private and public, to take part of this great venture through which we don t only promote the interests of Santiago and the Dominican Republic but those of the whole Caribbean region. This will be done articulating new commercial, cultural and investment links from a perspective which will ensure cultural diversity of peoples and biological diversity of our planet. These represent the guarantee of a sustainable development and a long lasting peace in the world.

We want to address our special thanks to the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment of Trinidad and Tobago for the interest he has shown to lead a delegation of Trinidad and Tobago to the fair.

We wish very much, as well, as we have talked last year with the Honourable Mr.Orville London, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, that the island of Tobago who wants also to be placed on the worlds map of sustainable tourism, to participate actively in the fair. Finally, the presentation of a steel pan band would represent an unprecedented and unforgettable cultural activity in the Dominican Republic.

We take advantage of the opportunity to invite the travel agencies to develop programmes of visits to the fair, so we can receive in it the biggest number of trinbagonians.

We look forward to see you in the First World Fair of Ecotourism and Production which will be held in Santiago de Los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, from 18 th to 26th of October 2014./

Thank you./

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