Long-standing Customs Agency director, Eduardo Sanz Lovaton was recently in India and came back convinced India is a growing economy and a strategic market for Dominican exports.
He wrote for Noticias SIN that India with its population of 1.4 billion, is already a key Dominican trading partner. Over the past seven years, bilateral trade has totaled US$5.67 billion, with a significant average growth of 52.2% since 2021. Most of this trade is raw gold for refining.
This has enabled the Dominican Republic to maintain a positive trade balance with India, with a surplus of US$1.04 billion over the same period, placing India in the top three for countries with which the Dominican Republic holds a positive trade balance.
Sanz Lovaton says a key achievement of his recent official trip to India was to sign a Mutual Recognition Agreement for Authorized Economic Operators (AEO). This agreement aims to facilitate trade by providing both countries’ exporters with the same commercial and customs advantages at ports and airports.
“The Dominican Republic’s economic strategy, driven by a focus on logistics, aligns with India’s need to diversify its supply chains,” explains Sanz Lovaton. “The Dominican Republic has modernized its logistics infrastructure, including new legislation, port construction, and a significant expansion of warehouse capacity and free trade zones. This positions the country to serve as a hub for Indian companies looking to expand into the Americas,” he writes.
Sanz Lovaton says the DR can take advantage of his geographical location and become a bridge for sales to Latin America. “India, already a powerhouse in sectors like pharmaceuticals and technology, can leverage our ports and airports as a gateway to sell its products in cities across the Americas, from Medellín to La Paz and beyond,” he writes.
Indeed, Sanz Lovaton sees opportunities to export a variety of goods to India, including avocados, financial services, and cacao. Additionally, he says the Dominican Republic can serve as a processing hub for raw materials destined for the Indian market. The hope is that this will be a two-way street, with Indian industries in pharmaceuticals and technology using the Dominican Republic’s ports as a gateway to sell their products throughout the Americas
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Noticias SIN
18 August 2025