With the aim of attracting new investments and promoting our image and country brand abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, through the Dominican Embassy in France and the Dominican Republic Investment Export Center (ProDominicana), organized a country day in the French capital that brought together representatives of French companies interested in the Dominican Republic.
The welcoming remarks were made by the Dominican Ambassador to France, Her Excellency Rosa Hernández de Grullón. The diplomat emphasized in her speech that this activity fulfills the mandate set out in the second axis of the Dominican foreign policy, which instructs diplomatic missions to work for the promotion of Dominican exports, foreign trade and foreign direct investment, which has a direct impact on job creation and improving the quality of life of Dominicans.
Following this, Mrs. Biviana Riveiro, Executive Director of ProDominicana, began her presentation with a promotional video on the various investment sectors in the country. In this context, she presented the Investment Guide for the Dominican Republic, a tool that she assured will serve as a reference for foreign investors, since it contains the macroeconomic information of the country, the fiscal incentives offered by our legislation, specific information, with the most relevant facts and figures of the country. He also highlighted that the guide is available in different languages, and that its French version was elaborated in conjunction with the Dominican Embassy in France.
At ProDominicana we will continue working to attract investments that favor the economic development of our country, supporting the creation of quality jobs and encouraging the transfer of new technologies and knowledge, which will have a direct and positive impact on the quality of life of all Dominicans”, said Director Riveiro.
The event was attended by prestigious speakers such as Mr. Thomas Plisson, general director of the French-Dominican Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Mrs. Carolina Soto, president of the Legal Commission of the Chamber of Commerce and partner of the prestigious law firm Squire Patton Boggs; and Mr. Juan Manuel Martín de Oliva, vice president of the Tourism Area of Banco Popular Dominicano. Mr. Charles-Henri Malecot, president of STOA Infra Energy, who shared his experience as an investor in the country, and Mr. Mathias Fekl, former minister of tourism and foreign trade of France, currently advisor of the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises of France, who praised the work of the Dominican ambassador in France and her team, both for the quality of the events she organizes and for strengthening the ties of friendship between France and the Dominican Republic.
Mr. Pascal Ollivier, vice-president of the France-Central America and Caribbean Council of Medef International, was in charge of the closing remarks. In his speech, Ollivier said that there is a certain lack of knowledge of the Caribbean and that is why Medef International created in 2017 the first bilateral council of heads of companies between France and the referred region. He also said that the areas of main interest for the consortium are the sectors of activity such as health, energy, essential services and transport. In another order, he welcomed the resilience of the Dominican Republic in the context of the pandemic, since fortunately the macroeconomic growth of the country will be equal to that expected before the pandemic.
The activity took place at the headquarters of the diplomatic mission and was also attended by officials of the French Foreign Ministry, Dominican professionals based in Paris and members of the Dominican foreign service.