Dominican Republic, U.S. agree to cooperate on critical minerals, rare earths
Santo Domingo — The Dominican Republic and the United States of America signed a Framework Cooperation Agreement to strengthen the security and resilience of supply chains for critical minerals and rare earth elements, as well as to promote new investment and development opportunities linked to the extraction and processing of these strategic resources.
The agreement was signed by Foreign Minister Víctor “Ito” Bisonó and U.S. Ambassador Leah F. Campos, at an event attended by Energy and Mines Minister Joel Santos Echavarría.
During the signing ceremony, Foreign Minister Bisonó emphasized that this agreement involves the Dominican Republic and the United States working together to protect their respective markets for critical minerals and rare earth elements, jointly identifying projects of interest, and facilitating the financing of projects in both territories.
“This is an opportunity that we must approach with a long-term vision and a very clear compass: to protect our national interests and ensure that the development of our resources generates ever greater value for the country and for our people,” he stated.
He also highlighted that the cooperation framework signed is part of the foreign policy defined by President Luis Abinader and the active economic diplomacy promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For her part, Ambassador Campos stated that the agreement “is not limited solely to minerals; it is about sovereignty, security, and shared prosperity. It guarantees that, when extracting, processing, and manufacturing the materials of the future, we do so together, as trusted partners, and not as countries dependent on the goodwill of another.”
The cooperation framework, which the United States has signed with 27 countries, recognizes the strategic importance of critical minerals for the production of advanced technologies and aims to accelerate market development to contribute to the resilience and security of supply chains, from mining and extraction to separation and processing.
The instrument also states that it is a political and programmatic action plan that does not create rights or obligations under national or international law, does not give rise to legal proceedings, and does not establish legally binding or enforceable obligations, whether express or implied.
The signing ceremony, held in the Green Room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was attended by Vice Ministers Rubén Silié, Francisco Caraballo, Opinio Díaz, Ramón Pérez Fermín, and Celinés Toribio, along with directors and other Ministry officials. Representing the Embassy of the United States of America were Political and Economic Counselor Ali Nadir and Head of the Economic Unit Ariel Jahner. Also present was the Executive Vice President of the Dominican Mining Company (Emidom), Miguel Ángel Díaz.
