KOTRA Hosts Korea-Dominican Republic Business Forum

Accelerating Entry into Central America for Trade Expansion and Carbon Neutrality

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] KOTRA will hold the "Korea-Dominican Republic Business Partnership Forum" on the 21st in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the consulate.

The forum will be attended by about 100 political and business figures from both countries, including Lee In-ho, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Dominican Republic, and V?ctor Bison?, Minister of Industry of the Dominican Republic, to explore future cooperation plans between the two countries.

Key future economic cooperation issues between the two countries include the Dominican Republic's accession to the Korea-Central America Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and cooperation on international greenhouse gas reduction projects. In November 2021, the Dominican Republic conveyed its intention to join the Korea-Central America FTA to the Korean government through a visit by Hugo Rivera, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the forum will introduce the current status of opinion gathering from the local industry and promotion strategies.

In particular, to strengthen bilateral cooperation for carbon neutrality, Milagros de Camp, Deputy Minister of Environment, and Domingo Mat?as, Deputy Minister of Regional Development of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Dominican Republic, will attend to share the implementation plan for the Dominican Republic's 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target and discuss collaboration strategies between the two countries together with Korean investment companies operating locally.

A one-on-one business consultation session between companies and related organizations from both countries will also be held. The consultation session will focus on ▲ Central American production expansion in response to the strengthening of nearshoring in the United States, ▲ securing orders for infrastructure development projects in the Dominican Republic such as the Pedernales new airport and solar power complexes, ▲ and partnerships with large local consumer goods distribution networks. About 30 companies from both countries will participate in the business consultation session.

Kim Sang-soon, Head of KOTRA's Latin America and Caribbean Regional Headquarters, said, “Since COVID-19, the geopolitical importance of the Central American region has increased, and eco-friendly infrastructure development is expanding. We will strengthen future-oriented economic cooperation to expand trade and collaborate on international greenhouse gas reduction projects with the Central American region, which is emerging as an important partner in implementing our government's ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality Promotion Strategy.’”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.