Dominican Embassy projects Dominican cigars and rum in the U.S.

Santo Domingo, D.R.
The Dominican Ambassador in Washington, Sonia Guzman, during the traditional celebration of the “Dominican Cigar and Rum Night,” highlighted that at this moment the Dominican Republic is the first premium cigar exporting country in the world.

“Cigars are also art and culture, for this reason President Luis Abinader presented a bill to declare tobacco and cigars in particular as Dominican Cultural Heritage, a bill that has already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies,” informed the diplomat.

She also pointed out that last year a sum of 1.2 billion dollars was achieved in global cigar exports; the first market is the United States.

Likewise, Guzmán added that in 2021 the Dominican Republic was the leading rum exporting country to the United States. Hence, the industry achieved a significant milestone with the approval by the Dominican government of the denomination of origin to provide consumers around the world with more excellent guarantees of quality and traceability.

Celebration

The event took place at the Ambassador’s residence in New York, where the Association of Cigar Producers of the Dominican Republic (Procigar) and the Dominican Association of Rum Producers (Adopron) entertained members of the U.S. Congress, federal government officials, diplomats, representatives of international organizations, specialized agents and business people involved in the sale and distribution of cigars and rum in Washington, Virginia, and Maryland, and throughout the United States.

According to the State agency, the president of Procigar, Hendrik Kelner, and other representatives paid a courtesy visit to the U.S. Congress, where they met with the chairman of the Cigar Caucus, Pennsylvania Congressman Dan Meuser.
For her part, the representative of Adopron, Aguie Lendor, held meetings with different institutions in the United States regarding the importation, labeling, and designation of the geographical indication in this country.

Representatives from the Dominican Republic attended the reception, including representatives from the Ministries of the Presidency, Public Health and Higher Education, ProDominicana, and the American Chamber of Commerce.