During the XXVI Meeting of Farming Leaders, held at the Bavaro Convention Center in Punta Cana, economic analyst Henri Hebrard noted that the agricultural sector has increased its contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 133% between 2013 and 2023.
According to the analyst, a surprising drop in agricultural contributions to the Dominican GDP between 1991 and 2019, going from 12.5% of GDP to just 5% in 2019, the sector has recovered somewhat and is currently contributing 6.5% of GDP. Most of this comes from the “robust” exports from agricultural sources, especially tobacco. Exports grew by 20% just between 2019 and 2023.
During his intervention in the conclave, Minister of Agriculture Limber Cruz Lopez, told the hundreds of assembled leaders of the Dominican farming sector that the goal was to create a sector that was sustainable, competitive, and resilient in the face of world markets. He said that
what was needed was a farm sector that not only was able to feed the nation but was also capable of contributing to the economic development and improving the lives of the rural populations.
This event, organized by the Dominican Agri-business Board (JAD), brought together not only the members of the JAD, but also representatives of the most important international agricultural actors, the UN Food and Agricultural Agency (FAO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA), and the World Bank.
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Listin Diario
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9 September 2024