During a talk on the New Dominican Foreign Policy at the Dominican Republic Association of Industries yesterday, Thursday 16 April 2015, Minister of Foreign Relations Andres Navarro said that the government does not plan to sign any new free trade agreements. Canada, Colombia and Cuba have expressed an interest in free trade agreements with the DR, while the Haitian government has said it is not interested at present.
Navarro said that Dominican exporter companies have yet to take full advantage of the DR-CAFTA and the EPA with Europe. Nevertheless, he spoke of work being done to strengthen trade links with several countries, mentioning the processes underway with Chile and Peru.
As reported, he called for businesspeople to see the Ministry as an ally in their work to export.
Speaking during the event, Campos de Moya, president of the AIRD said it was urgent for the Dominican foreign service to exercise its role as promoter of exports and investments. He said Dominican missions abroad should develop the mechanisms to collect market information and technical information on export requirements and that these may serve as liaison between Dominican producers and foreign buyers.
He highlighted the Dominican Republic maintains 45 embassies abroad and has diplomatic ties with 147 countries.
He said the government had been alerted that implementation of the trade agreements had to come hand in hand with policies to stimulate local exports. These were not enacted and imports are now double the volume of exports. De Moya called for important changes to be made in the Dominican economic model to promote production and exports rather than imports.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2015/04/17/i1104061_canciller-industriales-hay-que-temer-deportaciones-masivas.html
http://www.portalindustrial.net/index.php/novedades/declaraciones-de-prensa/526-palabras-de-campos-de-moya-durante-el-desayuno-tematico-con-la-participacion-del-ministro-de-relaciones-exteriores