During a high-profile meeting with representatives of the Dominican community based in Rome, Italy, Dominican President Luis Abinader has formally announced a landmark initiative: starting in January 2027, the national government will allocate dedicated funding to establish a Dominican House of Culture on Italian soil. First Lady Raquel Arbaje was in attendance at the gathering, marking the administration’s commitment to deepening connections with the country’s overseas community.
Under the plan laid out by President Abinader, the Dominican Presidency will issue a direct donation to cover the costs of renting a suitable venue and covering ongoing operational expenses for the new cultural space. Dominican Ambassador to Italy Rafael Antonio Lantigua has been tapped to lead coordination efforts with local community leaders, working together to complete key preliminary steps including the final selection of the center’s location.
The core mission of the new cultural institution centers on celebrating and spreading Dominican art, traditions, and national customs — with a particular focus on younger generations of Dominicans who were born or raised in Italy. Members of the diaspora community have already put forward a robust slate of proposed programming, ranging from performances by folkloric groups and hands-on workshops for carnival costume creation and traditional instrument crafting to cultural summer camps and educational courses centered on Dominican national history and symbolic heritage.
Beyond the cultural center project, community representatives used the meeting to outline additional priority needs for Dominicans living in Italy. These include expanded support for small business entrepreneurs, better professional opportunities through streamlined academic degree recognition processes, and targeted assistance with pension access, employment placement, and communication with government authorities back in the Dominican Republic.
In response, President Abinader confirmed that his administration would conduct a full review of all submitted proposals, and highlighted the ongoing work of the Institute of Dominicans Abroad (INDEX), the government body tasked with advancing support services for the country’s global diaspora.
The president also took the opportunity to acknowledge the outsized economic contribution that Dominican diaspora communities make to the national economy through remittances. These steady inflows of funds, he noted, play a critical role in bolstering domestic consumption, driving growth in the construction sector, and stabilizing the country’s balance of payments. He also shared updates on broader national progress, noting that the Dominican Republic projects it will welcome roughly 12.5 million international tourists by 2026, and highlighted significant gains the country has made in reducing national poverty and undernourishment rates.
Ambassador Lantigua offered praise for the Abinader administration’s consistent focus on engaging with the Dominican diaspora, specifically noting the president’s personal attention to key issues affecting overseas community members including education access, employment support, and driver’s license documentation. He emphasized that the Rome meeting created a valuable new opportunity to strengthen collaborative ties between the Dominican government and its citizens in Italy, while laying the groundwork to amplify Dominican cultural identity on the global stage.