The Dominican Republic participated this Wednesday in the I Ministerial Meeting about Minerals Critics, convened by the United States Government and held at the Department of State, in Washington, DC, where the country was projected as a relevant actor within the global strategy to strengthen and diversify the supply chains of these strategic resources.
The official delegation was headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Alvarez, and the Minister of Energy and Mines, Joel Santos, accompanied by senior presidential advisor Manuel Tavares.
The meeting was attended by representatives of 50 countries and was inaugurated by the US Vice President, James David “JD” Vance, and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubiowho highlighted the importance of having reliable international networks to guarantee access to minerals critics, including rare earthessential for technological development and global economic security.
- During the day too they intervened President Donald Trump’s special assistant and senior director for Global Supply Chains, David Copleyas well as the Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs, Jacob Helbergwho presented the strategic axes of the meeting.
Dominican government guidelines
Dominican participation is framed in the president’s guidelines Luis Abinader on the responsible management of the country’s mining potential, particularly in relation to the rare earth. In this sense, we remember the issuance of the decree 453-24of August 20, 2024, through which the Dominican Mining Company (Emidom), public entity in charge of the exploration of strategic mining resources.
Abinader has described the discovery of rare earth on Dominican soil as an unprecedented strategic opportunity and has reiterated the need to develop these resources with a vision of the future and environmental responsibility.
As part of its agenda in Washington, the Dominican delegation also participated in a high-level meeting organized by the Center for Strategic Studies and International (CSIS), titled “Ensuring the supply of minerals critics: Government-Industry dialogue”, in which alliances and investments necessary to strengthen the global strategy were discussed. The Dominican ambassador to the United States participated in this activity, Maria Isabel Castillo.
