French Ambassador in the Dominican Republic José Gomez explained ongoing efforts for the strengthening of commercial ties between France and the Dominican Republic. In an interview with Diario Libre, he said France would continue to support the Dominican Republic especially to expand services of the Santo Domingo Metro, where French technology has been used.
The ambassador told Diario Libre in the interview that the French government would assist the Dominican government in securing low cost French loans to add more cars to the Metro Line 1 that is jam packed with riders at present. User demand for the Metro 1 Line will increase with the imminent completion of the extension of Line 2 that will serve Santo Domingo East, the most populated area of Greater Santo Domingo.
Through the French Develoment Agency, France would participate in a study on public transport in the Dominican Republic, Mobilize your City (Movilice su Ciudad) to define needs in the local market.
Gómez said that the Dominican government has held high-level meetings with the government of France. He mentioned the visit of John Pierbell, special envoy of the French Presidency who came for the French Week in October 2016, and that of John Marie Bockel, Secretary of State for Cooperation and La Francophonie, both whom met with President Medina and Minister of Foreign Relations Miguel Vargas. Gómez said that as a follow up to those visits, Minister Vargas visited the Minister of Foreign Relations of France in Paris in April 2017.
Gómez said that France has exported to the DR around US$144 million in 2016, with Dominican exports at around US$153 million, but that trade is increasing. He said around 230,000 French tourists visited the Dominican Republic in 2016.
13 July 2017
