The president of the Dominican Association of Exporters (adoexpo), Elizabeth Mena, declared yesterday that the sector continues to follow up on the appreciation that the peso has registered since the beginning of the year against the dollar.
Mena, participating in the World Commonwealth Day, said that the appreciation of the Dominican peso against the US currency is a challenge for the foreign exchange generating sectors, including tourism.
Between January and March of this year, the currency has depreciated 4.7% against the national currency, going from an average sale in the spot market of RD$57.83 to RD$55.09, equivalent to a reduction of RD$ $2.74, according to Central Bank records.
However, the executive recognized that the appreciation of the peso is a product of the (monetary) measures due to the particular situation that the world economy is experiencing.
The owner of the adoexpo reported that this guild is working on a project called “Caribbean Connectivity” with which they seek to boost the frequency of shipments of Dominican products to the Caribbean region.
He explained that the pilot project aims to consolidate cargo with Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Barbados, Aruba, Curaçao and Guayana.
“The Caribbean is a highly relevant market, not only because of its importance, but also because of the geographical proximity that we have with it,” Mena stressed.
During the activity, the president of the association specified that more than 13% of the exports of the country go to the countries of the commonwealth and a total of 15% of imports come from these.
The commonwealth is made up of 54 countries, among which Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Great Britain, Malta, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand stand out, among others that are located in the Caribbean region, America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
The president of the Round Table of the Commonwealth Countries in the Dominican Republic, Fernando González Nicolás, stressed that the nations that make up the Commonwealth, as a whole, have become the second largest foreign investor in the country.
González Nicolás affirmed that in the last decade these countries exceeded investments in the Dominican Republic by some US$5,620 million in mining projects, alcoholic beverages, free zones, banking and other productive lines.
