Dominican diplomacy sees many opportunities in strengthening ties with Armenia, as reported in Acento.
Armenia ambassador Anahit Harutyunyan presented her credentials to President Luis Abinader last week. She is concurrent with Cuba and Canada.
Ambassador Hans Dannenberg came with the ambassador for additional meetings with the President and higher up government officials. He stresses the importance of the ambassador in fostering Dominican interests in the Central Asia and Caucasus region in these war times.
Armenia was once a republic in the USSR. Now the country has morphed into the Silicon Valley of the South Caucasus, a startup hub with a tech industry constantly growing and attracting global recognition.
The Dominican Republic and Armenia have had relations since 2007. But it was not until three months ago, when Ambassador Hans Dannenberg Castellanos presented credentials to Armenia President Vahagn Khachaturyan in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. And this week the Ambassador Harutyunyan did the same to President Abinader in Santo Domingo.
Foreign Relations Minister Roberto Alvarez explains the Dominican government is considering that the Embassy in Russia open a working office in Yerevan, capital of Armenia. Armenia is seen as a viable alternative to solve the difficulties affecting Russian financial and air transport services, following the imposition of sanctions and the concerns of Dominican families that have their children studying in Central Asia.
Furthermore, Ambassador Dannenberg Castellanos says that Armenia is an opportunity for Dominican exports to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The EEU is an economic union of some post-Soviet states located in Eurasia.
“We have access to financial services in Armenia without problems or risks of sanctions explained Dannenberg Castellanos. He said that the Dominican Embassy in Moscow opened an account in the private bank based in Yerevan Converse Bank. Armenia is the only country in Central Asia that has allowed us this transaction, says Dannenberg Castellanos.
This account receives the funds from Santo Domingo, which are then transferred from Armenia to Russia without any difficulty, even in the face of the sanctions on Russian banks required to pay rent, staff and other commitments, he explained.
Export opportunities
Bilateral trade exchange with Armenia for 2015-2021 was just US$5 million, with 26.6% corresponding to imports of goods (many for the sugar industry) and the remaining 71.5% to exports.
In a first exploration in supermarkets and specialized stores in the city of Yerevan, the Dominican ambassador identified “opportunities to place Dominican products that already have positioning in Russia such as tobacco, rum and fresh fruits.”
Dannenberg Castellanos says that the EEU offers facilities for customs and people movement that the DR can take advantage of. “We could use Armenia as a starting point for the conquest of markets of growing purchasing power and sophistication such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan,” says the Dominican ambassador.
He says Armenia has an important entrepreneurial and investment diaspora that have already identified investment potential in real estate developments. He said there are already investments in cigar industry in free zones carried out by US citizens of Armenian origin.
He also mentioned that thousands of Russians, with high incomes and who are knowledgeable about Dominican products and culture, have been settling in Armenia. He reported that in the first weeks of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, around 70,000 Russian technology workers from around 1,000 companies, relocated from Russian cities to Yerevan and Tashkent in Armenia.
“They are part of an exodus of Russian workers with high purchasing power, many of whom are familiar with Dominican products and culture after having vacationed in our country, and who could surely continue to demand our goods, especially rum, cigars and fresh fruits,” remarked Dannenberg Castellanos.
Opportunities for students
He says universities in Armenia are an opportunity and alternative for new Dominican students and those already in Russia.
“After visiting the Yerevan State University, the Brusov Linguistic University and the Medical University of Yerevan, we were able to confirm that the academic offer of these universities could be attractive options for Dominican students,” added the Dominican diplomat.
Armenian universities are of European level and their graduates acquire world-class skills as evidenced by the fact that many of their medical graduates later are employed in world-class hospitals in Canada, Europe and the United States. He says tuition is affordable at these schools — around US$3,000 per year. Living costs are low, too.
Dannenberg Castellanos stresses it is less expensive to send Dominican students on scholarship programs to Armenia than to Russia.
Dannenberg is also working closely with his colleague, Ambassador Harutyunyan, for the establishment of a Tumo Center here. The centers have opened in Germany, Japan and France. The Tumo Center for Creative Technologies is a free-of-charge educational program that puts teens in charge of their own learning through workshops and project labs. The learning program was first implemented in Yerevan, Dilijan, Gyumri and Stepanakert in Armenia. The concept was so successful it moved on to open in Paris and Lyon in France; Berlin in Germany and Moscow in Russia.
The Tumo Center for Creative Technologies is a free education program for teenagers ages 12-18 specializing in technology and design.
Ambassador Dannenberg Castellanos sees the concept would catch on here. He explains that Tumo is a place where students go after school to experience and experiment with technology. The aim is to help the students make better choices later in terms of work and career. Tumo was founded by Sam and Silva Simonian, an Armenian couple from Texas, USA. The first center opened in Yerevan in 2011.
Tourism and travel
Furthermore, Dannenberg Castellanos forecasts Armenia will become a hub in the Central Asian region for flights to and from the American continent.
“After talking with the general manager of Fly Arna airline and the Armenian Civil Aviation authorities, we learned in detail about the plans in the country to back at least two new airlines,” he said. He said one is Air Arabia that already has plans to connect with Los Angeles and New York, where there are significant Armenian diasporas.
Dannenberg Castellanos called for stepping up the pace of visa issuing. He said the management of Pegas Touristik, the most important tour operator in Armenia, has complained that Cuba processes visas in 24 hours, much less than it takes the Dominican authorities.
He said Dominican Republic has been included recently on the list of countries whose nationals can get their visas upon arrival. He said this is a sign of the commitment of President Khachaturyan of Armenia to the strengthening of relations. Dannenberg said the President has requested that the DR reciprocate the gesture, relaxing or eliminating the visa between our countries, in order to maximize the development of trade and tourism. He said the President would like to see the Dominican Republic become the commercial bridge between the Caucasus region, the Caribbean and Central America.
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Acento
11 July 2022