In a landmark gathering hosted in the Dominican Republic’s capital of Santo Domingo, top business leaders from across Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic have formally committed to revitalizing a collaborative regional strategy centered on deepening economic integration, drawing new foreign and domestic investment, and closely tracking evolving trade ties with the United States.
The agreement was finalized during the latest Ordinary Assembly of Presidents of the Federation of Private Entities of Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, better known by its acronym Fedepricap. This year’s session was convened by the National Council of Private Enterprise (CONEP), the Dominican private sector governing body that currently holds Fedepricap’s rotating regional presidency.
Celso Juan Marranzini, who leads both CONEP and serves as Fedepricap’s Pro Tempore President, outlined the federation’s renewed mission in remarks to attendees. He emphasized that the organization seeks to reclaim its central role as a coordinated advocacy and action platform for addressing the most pressing shared challenges facing the region. These priority issues span far beyond basic trade coordination: they include targeted investment promotion, overhauled education and workforce development frameworks, preparation for the rise of artificial intelligence, broad technological transformation across industries, establishing consistent legal certainty for businesses, strengthening regional public institutions, and protecting foundational democratic systems and free enterprise principles.
In additional business conducted during the assembly, leaders formally reaffirmed their welcome for renewed participation from Panama’s private sector delegation, restoring full representation to the grouping. Attendees also passed a resolution expressing unified solidarity with Nicaragua’s business community, which has faced growing government restrictions that undermine freedom of enterprise and disrupt the normal operations of independent business organizations across the country.
Originally established to align private sector priorities across the region, Fedepricap unites the most influential private industry associations from eight regional economies to advance pro-growth policies that boost competitiveness, expand investment opportunities, increase sustainable employment, and shore up democratic stability across Central America and the Caribbean. With this new agreement, the organization moves forward from a period of stalled coordination to refocus on shared priorities that benefit businesses and workers across the entire region.