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Embassy of India
Havana

Brief on Indo-Dominican Republic Relations

Relations between India and the Dominican Republic (DR) have been friendly and cordial. The two countries have started to cooperate in the UN and other international fora.

Political relations and institutional framework

Diplomatic relations between India and Dominican Republic were established in May, 1999. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in May 2001 in Santo Domingo to hold regular Foreign Office level consultations between the two countries. In May 2001, a formal invitation was extended to the President of the Dominican Republic to make a visit to India. The invitation was renewed in 2004 and the President is likely to visit India in 2009.
MOS (Rao Inderjit Singh) visited Dominican Republic in September 2004. MOS called on President Fernandez and had meetings with Vice President Rafael Albuquerque and Foreign Minister Carlos Morales. During the visit, the DR government announced its intention to upgrade diplomatic relations and open an Embassy in New Delhi. It also invited Indian companies to develop business and invest in areas such as IT, Pharmaceuticals, and infrastructure projects. The DR leaders offered to work with India in the UN, WTO, and other multilateral forums. MOS offered ITEC training slots and technical assistance to them.
DR Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso visited Delhi , Agra , Bangalore , Hyderabad and Mumbai during 16-23 February 2006. He was accompanied by IT and Investment Minister Mr Eddy Martinez , Higher Education and Science and technology Minister Ms Ligia Amado , Deputy Tourism Minister and 12 business delegates. He held official talks with MOS(Anand Sharma) during which a bilateral cooperation agreement was signed . A joint statement was also issued on the occasion.
DR opened its Embassy in India on 1st May 2006. Mr Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos is the first DR ambassador to India.

MOS Anand Sharma visited the DR in February 2007. He met with President Fernandez, Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, IT Minister Eddy Martinez and several other leaders. MOS offered 30 slots under ITEC to the Dominican side for IT training. An HOM conference was held in Casa de Campo during the Minister’s visit

Trade and Economic Cooperation

India’s exports to the Dominican Republic are small but growing at an impressive rate.

Dominican Republic:

Year	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	Up to June 2007
Exports	16.18	12.22	22.04	31.79	37.00	8.42
Imports	0.12	1.74	2.76	5.34	1.82	0.97
Total Trade	16.30	13.96	24.80	37.13	38.82	9.37

Exchange rate:
2005-06 1 US $ = Rs.44.2735
2006-07 1 US $ = Rs.45.2849
Up to June 2007 1 US$ = Rs.40.00 (adopted by mission for conversion)
Source: Deptt of Commerce, Government of India.

Main items of India’s exports are cotton textiles and readymade garments, drugs and pharmaceuticals, furniture, transport equipment, manufactures of metals, chemicals, plastic and linoleum products, tea, processed foods and marine products

BILATERAL:

Indo-DR business highlights.

Our exports to the Dominican Republic are steadily rising. We expect our exports to reach USD 50 mn. in 2008-09.
The visit of DR foreign Minister to India accompanied by a business delegation and the opening of DR embassy in New Delhi led to an increase in business interaction.
A 14-member Pharma delegation under the aegis of Pharmexcil visited the Dominican Republic in April 2006. The companies made several headways in the DR market.
A TCS delegation visited DR to look for opportunities in the IT Sector
NIIT signed an MoU with Cyber Park of Santo domingo to establish IT training centre.
A delegation from Jaguar, Paharpur Group visited DR.
TCS and NIIT were represented at the IBERO – American Chambers of Commerce Meet in Santo Domingo in March, 2006.
Several IT companies including MAT visited DR to establish business tie-ups.
Indian Pharma companies like Claris, Matrix and Caplin Point are doing good business in the country.
Several trade delegations from DR Visit India Trade Fairs.
TATA International and TATA Motors are exploring the market. Peravia Motors of Santo Domingo visited Mumbai to kick-start its tie-up with Tata Motors.
Bajaj two wheelers are doing well in the Dominican market.
Mahindra and Mahindra’s Scorpio SUV was displayed at the Transport Fair in Santo Domingo.

The largest rum maker in DR – BRUGAL bought distillery units from Praj Industries , Pune

Prospects in the Dominican Market:

Pharmaceuticals: The Dominican is a good market for our Pharma products. Indian companies doing business in the country could combine their business operations with Haiti (the two countries form the island of Hispaniola)
Information Technology : The Dominican Republic intends to become the IT hub of the Caribbean. It is looking for Indian partners who could provide service to the US and to the Latin America . IT friendly policies of the government along with english and spanish speaking trained manpower could be leveraged to start ITES /BPO units
Tourism: The DR has more than 4 million tourists. Indian hotels could look into the opportunities for investing in hotel resorts and real estates.
Mining: DR has substantial reserves of Nickel and Gold. It may be of interest to our mining companies.
Renewable Energy: Companies like Suzlon, NEPC could sell their products to the DR which is looking to diversify its energy needs.
Film Industry: Indian film makers looking for exotic locations could explore the DR. Support and technical services would be much cheaper than locales in Europe.
DR-CAFTA free trade agreement - The implementation of DR- CAFTA pact , would open up opportunities for Indian companies which could setup operations in the DR for the US market. The government is hardselling the pact to partner coutries. Countries like South Korea , Japan and Taiwan have drawn up plans to take advantage of it.
Indian companies in DR:
Pharma:

Claris Life Sciences Ltd. has a representative office in Santo Domingo.
The company is doing business worth 1 million USD per annum. It deals in IV solutions.
Micro-labs has a representative office .
Caplin Point: Sources bulk formulations from India and sells value added products in the Dominican Market.

Scrap: There are several small Indian Scrap Companies based in the DR.

ITEC and bilateral Assistance

Consular and Cultural

At present there are about 60-70 Indian nationals and people of Indian origin living in the country. Some of them are students in medical colleges and others are working as engineers, software experts or representing Indian companies. Several businessmen also form part of the community. Satya Sai Baba of Putthaparthy has a substantial following in the Dominican Republic. Several Sai Baba centers are active in the country. A substantial number of the visitors from Dominican Republic to India happen to be Sai Baba devotees.

A classical dance exponent in the Dominican Republic received an ICCR scholarship in 2002 to attend a course in Mohiniyattam in Kalamandalam, Kerala. An exhibition on Gandhi was organized at the Global Foundation in May 2006 and in Colegio Mahatma Gandhi in September 2006 . Fifteen DR professionals are working for IVY Comptech, a BPO company based in Hyderabad.

Journalist Hector Linares visited India under XP Division programme in April 2007.

Last updated July 2008

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