The American Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic (AmchamRD) called for “diplomatic and respectful dialogue” that maintains the strong bilateral relationship between the country and the United States with a tradition of 138 years.
The president of the entity, Roberto Herrera, said that the suggestion is in line with the discursive line proposed by President Luis Abinader, from the very beginning of the government, in the sense that bilateral relations would be strategically strengthened during his administration.
“Diplomacy between allies, especially in a region where many countries are moving away from our shared values, must take into account the complexities of local issues and be mindful of the way we communicate differences,” Herrera stressed.
When pronouncing the words of welcome to the American Chamber of Commerce lunch on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, Herrera recalled that the country’s imports from the United States represent more than 43% of the total, while exports from the national territory to North America are more than 50% in the first 10 months of the year.
He said that to continue promoting trade, create more jobs and attract investment from the United States to the Dominican Republic, the Alliance for Development in Democracy (ADD + USA) has been created.
“An alliance that reflects that the Dominican Republic is a regional ally and a democracy to the end of the United States, as well expressed by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the Undersecretary of Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, José Fernández”, stressed.
He highlighted that more than 5.8 million non-resident travelers have entered the country as of October this year, contributing more than US$7.278 billion to the economy, of which 30% comes from the United States.
Herrera highlighted that the confidence of US companies in the Dominican Republic remains the same, being the country where the largest foreign investment comes from with 37%.
“Family remittances remain strong, reaching more than US$8.125 million in the first 10 months of the year, with the United States being the main issuer with more than 80%,” Herrera said.
He added that the Dominican Republic is consolidating as a destination for films and that only so far this year, US projects from studios such as Netflix, Warner, Disney, MGM, among others, have been approved, exceeding 8.7 billion pesos, equivalent to more 70% of the total investment in cinema in the country.
“Since AMCHAMDR for 99 years we have been the meeting point of this union that represents the future, the constructive spirit and the hope of relations between both countries,” Herrera argued.