MICM, Barrick and UNPHU will train MSMEs in Sánchez Ramírez to supply goods and services to mining

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Mipymes (MICM), the Barrick Pueblo Viejo company and Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU), signed a collaboration agreement to train and advise five micro, small, and medium businesses in the province of Sánchez Ramírez, with the aim of improving the quality of the goods and services they offer and become suppliers of the mining company.

The agreement, which encourages productive chains and contributes to the growth of the local economy, was signed by the minister, Víctor -Ito- Bisonó, the president of Barrick Pueblo Viejo, Juana Barceló, and the vice-chancellor of Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU), Josefina Pepín.

Through this state-academy-company alliance, the selected mipymes will receive advice and support in administrative, financial and health management. In addition, they will obtain security certifications and will be able to establish operational cost measurements and assessments in accordance with the requirements Barrick requests from its suppliers.

Minister Bisonó called the agreement “relevant” to the State because it makes it easier for Dominican companies to integrate into global value chains. “Through this pilot supplier development project, our companies will be able to prepare and meet the necessary standards requested by multinationals such as Barrick Pueblo Viejo,” the official explained.

Meanwhile, the president of the mining company, Juana Barceló said that the company is committed to the community from different areas and one of them is the development of local suppliers. “With great pride we can say that here in Sánchez Ramírez there are businesses that are a before and after thanks to the support we have given them in training and development to raise the standard in their businesses in terms of training, compliance with rules, hiring local talent, that is, capacity development and therefore their competitiveness.” 

The vice-chancellor of UNPHU thanked MICM and Barrick for the opportunity to participate in the project and expressed the university’s commitment to meet the demand for training that national companies have.

Mining jobs grow 6.6%. Bisonó indicated that the mining and quarrying sector registered 7,386 formal workers in August this year, which is equivalent to an increase of 6.6% compared to the same month in 2021. He noted that during the period 2010-2021, total sales of the mining sector experienced an average year-on-year growth of 51.7%, reaching an amount of RD$130,273.3 million in 2021.

The official shared these figures when he toured the company’s facilities in the company of the multinational’s top executives, who showed some of the processes they develop for the extraction, processing, and production of Doré Bars, an alloy of gold and silver.

Barrick Pueblo Viejo is one of the most important gold mines in the world and 2,700 people work directly in this one. The total capital investment was about US$4.5 billion, which represents the largest foreign investment in the history of the Dominican Republic.

The visit to the mining company, located in the district of Zambrana, Cotuí, is part of the program Industrial Route, which the MICM implements to support the national productive fabric. During the tour, Minister Bisonó was accompanied by the vice minister of industrial development of the MICM, Fantino Polanco. The total capital investment was approximately US$4.5 billion, which represents the largest foreign investment in the history of the Dominican Republic.