From pharmaceuticals to paper goods, trade between India and the Dominican Republic has surpassed $1 billion. S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, continued by stating that before 20 years of diplomatic relations, a $12 million trading arrangement existed between the two nations.
Speaking at an event for business between India and the Dominican Republic, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated that the two nations’ commercial turnover had already surpassed $900 million.
He continued by saying that before diplomatic relations 20 years ago, trade between the two nations was about $12 million and that pharmaceuticals, marine, gold, and paper products see a lot of trade.
“So this is very much, therefore, a diplomatic trip,” Jaishankar remarked in reference to the event in the Dominican Republic. Of course, it’s a business trip, but it’s also a political journey. When it comes to the Dominican Republic, our trade, which was about USD 12 million before we established diplomatic ties 20 years ago, is now close to USD 1 billion. Additionally, a significant portion of our trade is in pharmaceuticals, marine products, two- and three-wheelers, iron, steel, gold, and paper.
In fact, as we were entering, I was chatting with the leader of our business delegation when he revealed that his company has been doing business in this region for 15 years and has a number of significant distributors. We have observed over the years that there have been many more commercial and official delegations traveling to India to conduct business with us,” he said.
“We saw a Dominican delegation last year at the INTEXPO the textile event in Mumbai at the Global Regulators meet, which was organized by our Pharmaceutical Export Council at the India International Garments Fair, which was organized by our Apparel Exports Promotion Council, and also at the India-Soft Exhibition which is dealing with computer software,” he continued.
Regarding the agreement signed between India and the Dominican Republic, the EAM stated that the two nations had finished discussions on a JETCO mechanism for joint economic and trade cooperation. He added that the arrangement is currently undergoing final approval and is anticipated to be completed as soon as he returns to India.
Additionally, he hoped that JETCO would serve in many ways as a venue for ongoing discussions about potential avenues for economic and commercial cooperation between India and the Dominican Republic.
He also spoke about his meeting with Luis Abinader, the president of the Dominican Republic, stating that the main topic of their conversation was fostering trade between the two nations.
“Happy to call Dominican Republic President @luisabinader. conveyed the PM’s (@narendramodi) greetings. I like his outlook on our collaboration on a bilateral and global scale. Jaishankar wrote in a tweet, “Discussed our expanding political contacts, expanding economic & commercial linkages, business cooperation, capacity building, and people-to-people ties.
Jaishankar claimed that India is interested in the region during his visit to Latin America.
“That interest is currently manifested in a trade transaction of up to $50 billion yearly in an increasing number of investments in diverse industries, including energy and agriculture, mining, projects of various sorts, IT delivery centers, and medicines. So our relationship with Latin America is being intentionally deepened. And in many ways, I’d say, business is setting the pace,” he continued.
For his first official visit to the Dominican Republic, Jaishankar arrived earlier on Friday in Santo Domingo.
For my first official visit, I arrived in Santo Domingo. Thank you for the kind greeting, Vice Minister @josejuliogomezb. The EAM tweeted on Friday, “Look forward to my engagements in the Dominican Republic.
