The First Caribbean-U.S. Forum on Trade and Investment opened yesterday morning at the Jaragua Hotel in Santo Domingo. The event brings together some 300 official and private sector delegations from the U.S. and the Caribbean region to discuss trade and investment policy issues and opportunities. The first welcoming speech was from Eddy Martinez, Investment Promotion Office (OPIN) Director and the President of the Organizing Committee for the event. He recalled that the Forum’s origins were an agreement at the May 1997 U.S.-Caribbean Summit in Barbados to create ways to foster greater commercial interchange between the U.S. and Caribbean nations. He was followed by Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Rosello, who lauded DR President Leonel Fern?ndez as a primer mover in promoting closer ties among Caribbean nations. Next up, Jules Windenjbosch, President of Suriname and current President of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) trade bloc, pointed out that the Caribbean region is a stable and peaceful place for foreign investors to look to. Windenjbosch was followed by President Fern?ndez, who in his speech stressed the importance of U.S.-Caribbean commercial ties and pointed out that, taken together, the Caribbean nations are the U.S.’s 13th largest trading partner. Wrapping up the inaugural morning session, U.S. "interim Ambassador" Linda Watt, who said that the Forum demonstrated the U.S. commitment to the region’s development.The two-day Forum ends this afternoon. It includes a series of presentations and workshops on emerging trade and investment issues and current policy topics, such as textile parity and electronic commerce. The Forum will be followed by an international trade fair (see below), and then next Monday and Tuesday the DR will host a meeting of the Caribbean region’s investment promotion offices.
