Life peer at the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, 84-year old Baroness Gloria Hooper visited the Dominican Republic for four days, from 1 to 4 June 2023. Spanish-speaking, she is the Special Trade Envoy for Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic, appointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Baroness Hooper is keenly interested in education, sustainable development, and fostering relations between the United Kingdom and Latin America. She is actively involved in various organizations and initiatives in these areas.
The UK Embassy explains the Baroness visited to give continuity to the improvement of trade and relations between both countries. She met with public and private sector representatives, including Minister of Education Angel Hernandez, the director of the Santo Domingo Water Corporation (CAASD), Felipe Suberví.
She carried out an extensive agenda during her four-day stay, organized by the United Kingdom Embassy and Ambassador Mockbul Ali Obe.
In Punta Cana, she met with Grupo Puntacana CEO Frank Elias Rainieri and environmental team leader Jake Kheel. She learned about the diversification carried out by this group that owns and operates the Punta Cana International Airport and several developments in the area and possible collaborations with the United Kingdom. In Punta Cana, she saw for herself the impact of sargassum. She learned about the initiative of Andres Bisonó and his team at SOS Caribe to deal with the seaweeds.
She met with Minister of the Presidency Joel Santos and his wife, Carmen Ligia Barceló, a pre-candidate for the ruling party for deputy in Congress in the 2024 elections at the residence of UK ambasador. That evening, the honorary title of MBE, was awarded to Roberto Herrera by King Charles III for Herrera’s services in favor of sustainable energy. Roberto Herrera is board director and country manager of Interenergy Group for the Dominican Republic. Herrera has a degree in Economics with a master’s in business administration from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra and a Master’s in Business Economics from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, where he was a Chevening Scholar.
Hooper visited St. George School, a private school founded by Maureen Tejeda, a British citizen in 1965. Saint George is an accredited Infant-12th British International School with a challenging international curriculum complying with International Baccalaureate (IB), The Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), and the Dominican Ministry of Education requirements.
The Baroness met with Education Minister Angel Hernandez and exchanged ideas for new collaborations. She also met with Felipe Suberví, director general of the Santo Domingo Water Corporation (CAASD) to look into new opportunities for cooperation in infrastructure and water sanitation.
The UK Embassy reported in a press release that in 2022 trade between the UK and the DR was US$467 million. The UK has designed the UK Trade Agreements Program (UKTP) to boost the competitiveness of Dominican specialty food exports to the British market, including fruits and cocoa products. The program is now under the newly created Department for Business and Trade.
Read more:
Diario Libre
Hoy
UK Gov
Future D
Intracen
UK Department for Business and Trade
7 June 2023