The Dominican Republic has received an original commemorative section of the Berlin Wall, German Ambassador Volker Pellet told Miguel Franjul, the director of the Listin Diario during a visit made to the newspaper. During the visit, Pellet spoke of the favorable relationship between both countries that he says goes beyond trade. The ambassador spoke of the DR has being a place of wonderful beaches and friendly people.
Ambassador Pellet mentioned many success stories between both countries over the years. “It was the Dominican Republic, which at the Evian Conference in 1938, accepted to receive German Jews fleeing the Nazi dictatorship: the country granted them visas and these landed on the northern coast, which today is the prosperous tourist, agricultural and livestock area of Sosúa. Entire families managed to enrich the region with new development technologies, especially in the manufacture of cheese and butter,” the ambassador said.
The diplomat mentioned that over the years about 60 German companies have established themselves in the Dominican Republic. Many of these are part of the German Dominican Chamber of Commerce. The ambassador estimates around 7,000 German nationals are living in the Dominican Republic. Many reside all year round. He estimated that in Germany approximately 1,000 Dominicans live, most married to German citizens.
Ambassador Pellet mentioned that from January to June of 2019, 101,350 Germans have visited the Dominican Republic. In all of 2018, 218,000 arrived and in 2017, 265,000. Two German airlines offer direct flights to the Dominican Republic – Condor and Eurowings. He said that from January to September 2019, these have made 1,387 flights.
In 2016, the DR exported EUR185 million goods to Germany, while buying from the Germans goods equivalent to EUR222 million. The following year, 2017, exports of Dominican goods to Germany reached EUR174 million. In 2018, exports were EUR129 million. In 2019, German imports amounted to EUR310 million.
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Listin Diario
12 November 2019