The President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, swore in Joel Santos this Saturday as interim minister of the Presidency, replacing Lisandro Macarrulla, who is on leave.
The protocol act was held in the office of the president, in the National Palace.
onntos Echavarría was designated on July 11 as Minister of the Presidency, through decree 378-22.
Santos Echavarría thanked the trust that President Abinader has placed in considering him in the new executive functions that he now occupies, and stressed that he assumes this new professional challenge with the humility and dedication that have characterized him throughout his life, always with the firmness to work in accordance with the guidelines of President Luis Abinader, for the benefit of the best interests of the Dominican Republic.
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Since the promulgation of the decree, the official has been integrated into the work of the Ministry of the Presidential Office by participating in meetings and identifying the projects handled by this unit, defined as the operational arm of the Presidency of the Republic.
Previously, the now Minister of the Presidency served as general manager of the Reserve Pension Fund Administrator (AFP Reservas); he also served as an honorary adviser to the Executive Branch on Tourism.
Santos Echavarría is an economist by profession and was president of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (Asonahores) and the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE).
The minister also participated in the elaboration of the Government Plan of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) and coordinated the national survey of needs of the tourism sector during the campaign.
Santos Echavarría is an economist by profession, graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (Pucmm). He holds an MBA in International Business from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Arizona, which he earned as a Fulbright Scholar.
Since 2007, he has served as executive vice president and founding partner of the company Coral Hospitality Corp., which manages hotels, tourist condominiums and other services in the tourism industry under the Coral Hotels, Xeliter and International Vacation Club brands.
In addition, he was part of the BHD Group for 10 years, occupying the Vice Presidency of Planning and Development of New Businesses. He also served as Vice President of Finance for Coral Hotels and Resorts.
He worked for the financial sector with Citibank and for the telecommunications industry in the areas of marketing and finance in the companies Codetel and Tricom.
For 10 years he dedicated part of his time to teaching at Pucmm as a professor of Economics and Finance, and of the Postgraduate Program in Corporate Finance.
