Minister of Economy and several Ecuadorian businessmen exhaust a work agenda in order to strengthen ties
Ecuador opens itself to the world and has come to the Dominican Republic to establish commercial ties in view of the signing of a partial bilateral agreement with which it seeks that exports and imports between the two States increase to much more than 160 or 180 million dollars per year. .
This was explained by the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries of Ecuador, Julio José Prado during an interview with elCaribe, in which he highlighted that one of the examples of investment and trade that they will emulate in this country is the one that has to do with with free zones.
He pointed out that there is potential to expand the exports that are already made to his country in relation to the electrical industry or medical issues and has also begun to seek cooperation and even investment in services.
Prado, who is accompanied by a delegation of eleven Ecuadorian businessmen who have met with both government authorities and the local business sector, said that the experience of the Dominican Republic in the area of free zones could be replicated with investments in his nation.
“Another important element that had not been explored so much before is the one that the Dominican Republic has in free zones. This week we are about to pass a very important law that has a component of changes in several areas: stock market, public-private alliance and free zones. It is precisely the example that we are taking from the Dominican Republic together with Costa Rica and Colombia”, he highlighted.
The receptivity of the local authorities has been described as positive. The meetings in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Ministry), the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and with the business sector lay the foundations for reaching the long-awaited bilateral agreement for which, according to the official, some eight years ago there had been done a feasibility study.
“We have had a great reception to be able to advance in a commercial agreement. We have very good prospects, including the possibility of an official visit by President Lasso (Guillermo Lasso) to the Dominican Republic in the coming months,” the official said. Tentatively, the official visit of the Ecuadorian president would take place in the month of May. He said that his country is entering a new phase of economic recovery and in the Dominican Republic he has found an ideal political climate.
“Today we have talked about the need not only to make a trade agreement, but also to increase air frequencies with the Dominican Republic, and we believe that there is specifically a product that could benefit from that Hub: which are the flowers of Ecuador, because you have a lot tourism that comes from Russia and a very large market for flowers in Ecuador, which is among the first or second depending on the year, is Russia”, he replied when referring to the intentions of the Dominican government to turn this country into a Logistics Hub of the Americas.
partial agreement
In the conversation in which he was accompanied by Ambassador Santiago Martínez, Prado described that if there is an airline that has a direct connection with Punta Cana, it could make Punta Cana the flower hub that flies to Russia. It is an immediate possibility that has come out today, “he said.
The agreement, which the two States seek to sign, would be focused mainly on products with which they do not compete in the international market, such as rice, coffee, bananas and sugar, since the basket of products of both nations complement each other.
“Products that have high potential from Ecuador in the Dominican Republic are fishing products; tuna, different types of fishing that Ecuador does of white fishing, without a doubt the Ecuadorian shrimp that is one of the best in the world for tourist industries; the sector related to the world of furniture and wood exports. Also some assembly potential for refrigerator manufacturing industries, refrigerators for the tourist industry and some important lines for Ecuador in the fruit sector”, he described.
On the electrical issue, he said that there is an industry of electronic components that is born from the Dominican free zones and that could be implanted in Ecuador, such as plugs, one of the most important products that that nation exports from here.
The country, located in the center of the world, could become the first South American nation with which the Dominican Republic signs a bilateral agreement and that, according to the Ecuadorian official, “could open a door to the rest of the South American countries with which treaties are being sought.”
What are they doing to attract investment?
The South American nation has a clear vision of commercial opening with which it seeks that more than seven million people who do not have a secure job can have it.
To this end, preparations are being made in terms of legislation, as well as in the tariff issue and improvement of the investment climate.
Two months ago, he made a fiscal reform with which he seeks to strengthen public finances.
The production minister pointed out that they are eliminating the tax on foreign currency outflows, which has been very complicated for investors, beginning to lower tariffs and various reforms that will help the competitiveness of the productive sector.
Another initiative that seeks to attract capital and companies, using the free zone model, is to have an investment law.
Finally, that nation is trying to reform labor.
“In Ecuador, 70% of the population do not have access to a stable job: they are underemployed or unemployed. Seven million Ecuadorians! For those seven million Ecuadorians, we need a law that reforms, that makes the labor regime more flexible and that allows hiring more employees, ”he emphasized.
