In his keynote address on the occasion of having been recognized as Agrobusiness Exporter of the Year by the Agribusiness Council (JAD) yesterday, Thursday 5 December, businessman Felix Garcia made the point that the Dominican Republic has not made the most of DR-CAFTA especially when compared to the success stories in Central America. He pointed out that when the treaty started in 2004, the US exported US$4.35 billion to the Dominican Republic and by 2012 its exports had increased to US$7.69 billion. Central American countries that exported the same as the DR to the US doubled their exports, but the DR’s exports to the US have declined by US$200 million. The DR also lags in inter-regional trade. Garcia mentioned, for instance, that the DR exported US$37 million to Costa Rica, but Costa Rica exported US$300 million to the DR in 2012. <\/p>\n
“That is, Central America has taken better advantage of DR-CAFTA than the DR. We have done something wrong, and we are doing something wrong!” he declared, calling for a farm sector revolution. <\/p>\n
He mentioned support measures in place in Central America that are nonexistent in the DR where the risk of the farm exporter falls heavily on the local business owner. <\/p>\n
www.listindiario.com.do\/la-republica\/2013\/12\/6\/302421\/Revolucion-agropecuaria<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In his keynote address on the occasion of having been recognized as Agrobusiness Exporter of the Year by the Agribusiness Council (JAD) yesterday, Thursday 5 December, businessman Felix Garcia made the point that the Dominican Republic has not made the most of DR-CAFTA especially when compared to the success stories in Central America. He pointed … <\/p>\n