The local representative of the Government of Puerto Rico, Armando del Valle Munoz, has highlighted the measures being taken to improve its alliance with the DR, its second most important trade associate, to face the challenges presented by the DR-CAFTA agreement, particularly in the area of services. During a visit to Listin Diario, del Valle Munoz stated that bilateral trade reached a level of US$1.4 billion during the last year. He sustained that the trade balance between the two nations has been stable during the past years and that bilateral trade is expected to increase to more than RD$5 billion in the short term, when the FTA comes into effect. He said his government is most willing to offer all the technical collaboration required for the DR to face the challenges of the FTA.