The Presidency shares the report Pro Dominicana presents on the happenings and achievements of the recently passed Dominican Week in the United Kingdom. The event is organized every year by the Dominican Embassy in the UK with the collaboration of the UK Embassy in the Dominican Republic, the Pro Dominicana, the local export and investment promotion agency.
ProDominicana director Biviana Riveiro Disla explained the event organized by the British Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (BritCham DR) was an opportunity to present the business opportunities in the Dominican Republic to diplomats, investors and potential goods and service buyers.
Riveiro described the Dominican Republic as the ideal destination for investment and nearshoring, highlighting the positive growth of FDI flows from this country in her presentation.
She indicated that from 2016 to 2022 and the accumulated January-August 2023, the Dominican Republic’s commercial exchange with the United Kingdom has been US$2.50 billion. Of this amount, US$1.31 billion correspond to exports and US$1.19 billion to imports. She pointed out that for 2022, according to Trademap data, exports to the UK were US$167.05 million, showing a growth of 35% compared to 2021, while imports were US$123.89 million.
Riveiro noted that the Dominican products exported to the United Kingdom that have had a notable growth were are voltage switches, going from US$300,000 in 2021 to US$5.35 million in 2022, followed by instruments and apparatus used in medical sciences, which went from US$370,000 in 2021 to US$18.11 million in 2022.
Likewise, the export of electrical appliances increased from US$230,000 in 2021 to US$2.52 million in 2022. Similarly, adhesive dressings exports went from US$980,000 in 2021 to US$3.77 million in 2022 and fresh mangoes reached 40%, varying from US$9.55 million to US$ 13.33 million in 2022.
The executive director of ProDominicana expressed that foreign direct investment (FDI) from the United Kingdom in the Dominican Republic, quadrupled, increasing from US$17.4 million in 2021 to US$66.8 million by 2022, showing an inter-annual increase of 284%. She also referred to the increase in tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom, with more than 720,000 vacationers between 2018 and September 2023. The 2022 stats for UK tourists is the highest during the past 10 years.
“One of the main engines driving the Dominican economy is foreign direct investment. We have set a broad strategy to attract more investment to the country by showing our strategic geographic location, economic stability, natural resources and, above all, institutionalism and legal security,” she pointed out in the presentation.
The Dominican Week in the United Kingdom was a time for networking and cultural activities. The president of the British Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (BritCham DR), Amauris Vásquez; the Dominican ambassador to the United Kingdom, Elnio Durán; the UK ambassador to the country, Mockbul Ali, were all active presenting the importance of continuing to strengthen cultural and commercial relations along with the strategy of promoting the orange economy between the two nations and various priority sectors that contribute to sustainable and inclusive development.
The attendants met with members of UK Export Finance, the British export credit agency, with whom they discussed the possibility of new facilities to increase investments to promote exports between the two countries.
Likewise, the director of ProDominicana met with the UK Manufacturers Association (MakeUK) to discuss facilities for more British companies to do business in the DR, with a focus on either free trade zones, using logistics centers or settling in the border area.
On the other hand, meetings were held with Kickoff by INICIA with the presence of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Americas and the Caribbean, M.P. David Rutley. Also noteworthy was the participation in the panel on “The Past, Present and Future of British Tourism in the Dominican Republic,” among other meetings with British business and trade organizations and B2B meetings.
The program of activities included an afternoon tea hosted by Baroness Gloria Hooper, where relations were strengthened and topics of common interest were exchanged.
The event was attended by a delegation of more than 100 businessmen and officials with the central focus on positioning the Dominican Republic as a global logistics and nearshoring hub.
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Presidency
22 November 2023