Chamber president satisfied more being done for TT/Dominican Rep trading

President of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic last Thursday expressed his satisfaction that more was being done to enhance trading relationships between TT and the Dominican Republic. Speaking at a seminar hosted by the Tourism and Industrial Development Company of TT for businessmen in the Dominican Republic, Gonzales noted that activities such as this went a long way in helping businessmen from TT and the Dominican Republic to recognise major investment opportunities in both countries.

The TT Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic, he said, is an organisation whose objective is to promote bi-lateral trading relationships between TT and the Dominican Republic. The Chamber presently has 200 member companies which, he maintained have interests in TT and the Caribbean region as a whole. Many people, Gonzales continued, would be surprised to learn that TT was already one of the Dominican Republic’s most important global trading partners. He estimated that bi-lateral trade between the two countries in 2003 amounted to approximately US$400 million, with 2004 expected to see an increase.

For trade relations between TT and the Dominican Republic to continue to increase Gonzales maintained the free trade agreements between the Dominican Republic and Caricom needed to be enhanced to provide incentives for products from the respective countries to be competitive in both markets. Additionally, he said, both countries stood to benefit further from the inauguration of the first direct flight from TT to the Dominican Republic, as well as TT’s acquisition of the Dominican Republic Banco Mercantil. “The moment is not better to do business in our two countries,” he said.