Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas says Brexit and the expiration of the Cotonou Agreement in 2020 present new opportunities for bilateral relations with the United Kingdom. He spoke during Dominican Week in the United Kingdom organized by the Dominican Embassy in London, the British Chamber of Commerce and the UK Embassy in the Dominican Republic.
Vargas called encouraging that the United Kingdom has reaffirmed the intention that Brexit would not affect the continuing reciprocal access of goods and services for Cariforum countries to the European Union and the mutual trade preferences. He said that political stability, sustained economic growth, juridical security, geographic position, and trade agreements already in place enhance the potential of the Dominican Republic in becoming a logistics and trade hub for the Central American and Caribbean region, with easy access to markets of more than 875 million consumers.
Vargas said the Dominican Republic is already the leading Caribbean exporter to the UK market, thanks to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). He said the maritime and air linkages have increased between both countries. He said that Eurostat data indicates that exchange between both countries has increased from US$358 million in 2010 to US$373 million in 2016. He said Dominican exports in 2010 were US$190 million, and had increased by 2016 to US$236 million. In 2017 around 177,000 tourists visited from the United Kingdom, with tourist receipts estimated at US$206 million.
Vargas was the keynote speaker for the panel “Beyond Brexit: the Dominican Republic as logistic center for investments by British Exporters in Manufacturing” during the Dominican Week in London. The event was organized by the National Council of Export Free Zones of the Dominican Republic and held at the Institute of Directors in London.
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Mirex
25 October 2018
