Trade turnover between India, Dominican Republic has reached about USD 1 bn: Jaishankar

Santo Domingo [Dominican Republic], April 29 : The trade turnover between India and the Dominican Republic has reached almost USD 1 billion, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday, adding that a lot of trade is done in pharmaceuticals, marine, gold and paper products.

Addressing the India-Dominican Republic Business Event in the Dominican Republic, Jaishankar said, "So this is very much, therefore, a diplomatic trip. It is a political trip, but it is, ofcourse, a business trip. Where the Dominican Republic is concerned from a trade we had of USD 12 million before we established diplomatic relations 20 years ago, it has today reached almost a billion dollars. And a lot of our trade is in pharmaceuticals, in marine products, in two and three-wheelers, in iron and steel, in gold and in paper and paper products."

He also noted that there are a few Indian compes like Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Hetero, caplin point and Flagship Biotech that have already established offices in the Dominican Republic. He also said there are some of India's big automobile dealers, and two-wheeler dealers like Bajaj, Hero and Royal Enfield have actually local dealers in the Dominican Republic.

"In fact, as we entered, I was speaking to the head of our business delegation and he told me that he himself, his company, has had 15 years of business here and they have a number of important distributors. Now, we have seen over the years that there have been many more officials and business delegations visiting India to engage with our business," he said at the India-Dominican Republic Business Event.

"We saw last year a Dominican delegation at the INTEXPO the textile event in Mumbai at the Global Regulators meet, which was orgsed by our Pharmaceutical Export Council at the India International Garments Fair which was orgzed by our Apparel Exports Promotion Council and also at the India-Soft Exhibition which is dealing with computer software," he added.

On the agreement signed between India and Dominican Republic, the EAM said the two countries concluded talks on a joint economic and trade cooperation JETCO mechsm. He further stated that the agreement is in its final stages of approval and is expected to be finalised soon as he returns to India.

He also hoped that JETCO will, in many ways, become a platform for regular meetings, addressing economic and business cooperation opportunities between India and the Dominican Republic.

He also touched on his meeting with the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, saying the discussions centred on promoting business between the two countries.

"Delighted to call on President @luisabinader of Dominican Republic. Conveyed greetings of PM @narendramodi. Value his vision for our bilateral and multilateral partnership. Discussed our increasing political contacts, growing economic & commercial relations, business cooperation, capacity building and people-to-people ties," Jaishankar said in a tweet.

On his trip to the Latin America region, Jaishankar said India has an interest in the region.

"That interest is today expressed in a trade turnover that is approaching USD 50 billion annually in a growing number of investments in different sectors, from energy and agriculture to mining, to projects of various kinds, to IT delivery centres, to pharmaceuticals. So there's a conscious intensification of our relationship with Latin America. And I would say that in many ways, business is leading the way," he added.

Earlier, on Friday, Jaishankar arrived in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for his first official visit to the country.

"Arrived in Santo Domingo for my first official visit. Thank Vice Minister @josejuliogomezb for a warm welcome. Look forward to my engagements in the Dominican Republic," the EAM tweeted on Friday.