Foreign Minister Ampuero visits Dominican Republic and creates Joint Council on Trade and Investment

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Ampuero, signed today with his Dominican Republic counterpart, Miguel Vargas, a Memorandum of Understanding that creates the Chile-Dominican Republic Joint Council on Trade and Investment. The purpose of this council will be to develop policies, programs and initiatives that lead to a better business environment and an increase in trade and investment between the two countries.

This agreement was signed as part of the Chancellor's visit to the country today. Early in the morning, the Secretary of State held a courtesy meeting with President Danilo Medina, which took place in the National Palace. On that occasion, both authorities agreed on the interest in deepening the bilateral relationship, especially in areas such as cooperation, gradual liberalization of trade and political dialogue. They also discussed the situation in the region, especially in Venezuela.

Subsequently, he met with the Dominican Foreign Minister, Miguel Vargas, after which an expanded meeting was held with the participation of the Vice Minister for Economic Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugo Rivera; the Vice Minister for Consular and Migratory Affairs, Marjorie Espinosa; and the Vice Minister for International Cooperation of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development, Inocencio García.

They also discussed cooperation, consular and migration issues, areas in which both Chile and the Dominican Republic agreed to move forward and exchange experiences. In that sense, they agreed on the impact of the graduation of countries by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD.

Chile and the Dominican Republic share visions of hemispheric and global policy reflected in regional and multilateral organizations. In January 2013, President Medina was in Chile to participate in the 1st CELAC-EU Summit and the 1st CELAC Summit.

In 2017, bilateral trade reached US$124 million, up 33.3% from 2016. Exports amounted to US$111 million, an increase of 44.0%. Imports reached US$14 million, a decrease of 12.5%.

This is the last stop on a tour of Central America and the Caribbean that also included visits to Costa Rica and Panama.