Businessmen do not support HM's comments about suspension of DR-CAFTA

SD. Instead of thinking about eliminating the free trade agreement that the Dominican Republic has with Central America and isolating itself, the country should prepare itself better to compete.

This was the consideration of the president of the Industrial Association of the Dominican Republic (AIRD), Ligia Bonetti de Valiente, in answer to the announcement made by the presidential candidate of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, the former President Hipolito Mejia. Mejia said that if he returns to power he would review several commercial treaties, especially that with Central America, which he would suspend in the face of the competition represented by Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador.

In the meantime, a government source tied to the commercial sector said that just mentioning that the country might resign from an agreement already signed is prejudicial, and that this should be analyzed with the commercial partners in order to see about such feasibility.

Bonetti said that the country should prepare itself to compete, not shut its doors. She assured reporters that the fundamental problem is that the Dominican Republic has not taken advantage of the free trade agreements because it lacks the working conditions and a strong exporting culture within the private sector.

During his participation in the Dialogo Libre session that the Omnimedia Group organizes, Mejia said that the review of the free trade agreements in which the Dominican Republic takes part will be one of the central axis of the economic policy of a possible new administration of his, since he feels that the economic crisis requires the suspension of some of them.

Review of energy contracts

Mejia also said that he would review the energy contracts and that he would study a readjustment of the price of electricity to the reality of the country as he did in his previous administration (2000-2004).

Regarding this last point, the Dominican Association of the Electric Industry (ADIE) says that "any investment in any economic sector is quite related to transparency and institutionalism that exists in the sector and the country, and the electric contracts are one of those aspects that should be respected if one does not want to affect the flow of investments."

Milton Morrison, the executive vice-president of the ADIE, cited the investments that the sector had made that are reflected in next August's inauguration of the Los Cocos Wind Power Park, by Ege-Haina, as well as that carried out by Seaboard, which is in the process of installing a 108 MW natural gas generator at a cost of US$135 million.

Caricom-DR-Spain Forum announced

The AIRD announced yesterday the celebration of the First Caricom-Dominican Republic-Spain Forum on 30 and 31 May. Twenty business organizations from the Caribbean and Spain will take part. "In 2010, compared to 2009, our exports to the Caricom nations grew by 7.2%. If we except petroleum and its derivatives, our commercial balance with Caricom is positive, much different than it is with Central America or the United States", said the president of the AIRD, Ligia Bonetti.