During his talk as guest speaker for the American Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday, 23 February 2022, Industry & Commerce Minister Victor (Ito) Bisonó highlighted how the new Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Panama Alliance for the Development of Democracy has become the third most important trade bloc of the United States in Latin America. The Dominican Republic formed the alliance after the presidents of the three countries met during the September 2021 United Nations Assembly.
AmCham president Roberto Herrera had introduced Bisonó while underscoring the importance of the three-country alliance for generating synergies and exchanging opportunities for regionalization in value chains. The countries have synergies in migration issues and see the alliance as a way to boost trade and investment.
One of the priorities is the facilitation of logistics and connectivity, “to position the Dominican Republic as a world-class logistics hub and as a production platform integrated into the North American supply chain,” Herrera stressed.
He highlighted the leadership of both Foreign Relations Minister Roberto Alvarez and Industry & Commerce Minister Bisonó in the alliance. “Six months of work and it is already three occasions that the Presidents of these countries have met, with a fourth next March in Costa Rica. If this is not working with commitment and speed, I don’t know what is,” he said.
The Ministry of Industry & Commerce (MICM) in a press release on the event highlighted that the alliance was formalized in September 2021 to attract the investments that were leaving Asia due to the pandemic. “Washington tends not to legislate for one country, but rather for blocs and allies,” Bisonó said to explain the reasons behind the alliance.
Bisonó detailed that through the Alliance’s newly created High Level Business Council, businesspeople from the three countries maintain a dialogue to strengthen commercial ties with the United States and thus contribute to the reactivation of the region’s economy.
In his speech to the American Chamber of Commerce membership, Minister Bisonó presented the conclusions of a report commissioned by President Luis Abinader and carried out by the MICM, Ministry of Foreign Relations and Competitiveness Council, in which it was determined that medical devices and pharmaceuticals, electrical and electronic devices, and clothing and textile manufacturing were the three sectors with the greatest potential to take advantage of the “nearshoring” phenomenon. He also indicated that these three sectors contributed to the diversification of the exportable supply and to the growth of employment in recent years.
Bisonó mentioned that the report will be released in more detail in the coming weeks and said that the text lists policy proposals on strategic positioning of the Dominican Republic, specialization of human talent to strengthen their employability, permits and tax regulation, productive linkages and infrastructure for industrial development.
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Ministry of Industry & Commerce
24 February 2022