From France to work in and love PIVEM

The Park’s properties not only include the infrastructures built on its grounds. The stories that its people tell every day constitute one of the most precious assets of the Victor Espaillat Mera Industrial Park (PIVEM).

One of them is the story of a French gentleman who has been living in the Dominican Republic for two decades. He is a person who found in this country, in Santiago and in this Park, the place to live, to develop and to be happy.

His name is Damien Bischoff, president of Grand Island Group, who spoke on behalf of the companies that will increase their production and infrastructure facilities this year, at the ceremony led by Vice President Raquel Peña.
Damien confessed that the country, besides being an excellent investment destination, ended up becoming his home and where he decided to start “another great project of my life… a family”.

The businessman expressed his satisfaction with the Corporation’s support and with the new infrastructure that will enable them to continue operating and expand their markets. “Myself, and my Park colleagues share with the world what is proudly manufactured in the Dominican Republic,” he stated.

PIVEM’s Mission
In his speech to Vice President Raquel Peña, Damien Bischoff assured that the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted PIVEM’s founding mission: the mission of creating jobs in the Santiago neighborhoods, such as Cienfuegos, Rafey, Monterrico, Ingenio Abajo and other sectors located near the Yaque River.
He recalled that beyond the employment provided by the free zone park, when the country closed and later allowed them to work, they juggled to remain productive, implementing biosafety measures and continue manufacturing, exporting, and giving the best of what they had to offer.

“The pandemic showed that, alongside the Government’s plans, the free trade zones guarantee Santiago’s and the country’s social cohesion and have proven to be more resilient than any other sector. It showed the country that we do not only depend on tourists getting on a plane, or on relatives abroad sending money; just leave the ports open, and we will sustain the economy”, Damien Bischoff said.