TAMIU Signs Agreement with Spanish Corporation to Assist Haiti-Dominican Republic Border Development

Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) and MISE, an engineering, educational and corporate services division of Spanish/Basque corporation Mondragón, have signed an agreement to help develop border zones in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed recently in Spain between Mondragón officials and Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) Director of Global Initiatives María Eugenia Calderón-Porter.

The TAMIU and Mondragón agreement seeks to complement the University's capabilities with the capacity for social transformation demonstrated by Mondragón and its technical team of engineering and services companies, both business and educational.

Border Zone Development

The Dominican Republic-Hati Border Initiative Modernization project aims to achieve the development of communities located in the 224-mile border in areas such as infrastructure, energy supply and generation, municipal services, tourism, ports and agro-industry.

Last December, TAMIU’s Office of Global Initiatives helped facilitate the creation of a historic, binational, cross border cooperation agreement document between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which representatives from the two countries signed.          

Congress members and Ministry representatives from both the Dominican Republic and Haiti met during a three-day visit to Laredo at that time to learn how bi-national cooperation on the U.S.-México border works. The officials also heard presentations from Mexican consular and congressional representatives.

Information on the Dominican Republic and Haiti agreement signed at TAMIU is available here.

The project enjoys the support of both governments, which have signed their first cross-border agreements between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This, in turn, has awakened the interest of groups of investors who have agreed to support the agreement with a funding structure and multilateral support.

Serving as witnesses of the Mondragón-TAMIU agreement in Spain was Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos as well as the delegation that accompanied him during his official visit, which included representatives of the City of Laredo, the ICEX Office of Foreign Trade, the San Antonio Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce, and industry representatives. Also present was Trade Commissioner of Spain in Miami Immaculada Gutiérrez.

Mondragón includes engineering and services companies, both in the business and educational sectors. The companies represented work from the four core axes that identify the cooperative experience of Mondragón: Participation, Innovation, Solidarity, and Social Responsibility. The corporation works to build and make feasible projects that generate economic activity in territories as well as social cohesion and territorial development.

For more information, please contact TAMIU’s Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 326.2180, email prmis@tamiu.edu or visit offices located in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 268.

University office hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Spain with Spanish/Basque corporation Mondragón to help develop the Haiti-Dominican Republic border zone. Pictured from left to right are Oskar Goitia, vice president for Mondragón and chairman of Mondragón International; Alberto Gorroñoogoitia, vice president of Mondragon Corporation; María Eugenia Calderón-Porter, director of the TAMIU Office of Global Initiatives; and Rolando Pablos, Secretary of the State of Texas.