Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic on path to historic ties(Update)

San Juan.- Puerto Rico governor Alejandro García and first lady Wilma Pastrana on Tuesday welcomed president Danilo Medina and Dominican first lady Cándida Montillo at San Juan International Airport, and headed to government headquarters at La Fortaleza.

FILE. Dominican Republic will further strengthen socioeconomic ties in a bilateral meeting called historical tomorrow Tuesday, when Dominican president Danilo Medina visits San Juan accompanied by 13 government ministers, EFE reports.

"This is the most important visit made by a president of Dominican Republic to the Commonwealth in history, a strong sign that both territories want for their relations from now," Puerto Rico government spokesman Jesus Manuel Ortiz told Efe.

The new range of Santo Domingo-San Juan ties revamp part of international relations as the state –limited by Puerto Rico’s Commonwealth status and U.S. territory – with which the Administration headed by Alejandro Garcia seeks to improve collaboration with Latin America and the Caribbean.

García and senior officials have repeatedly stressed that despite the importance of traditional economic ties with the US, the new world opens up great opportunities for Puerto Rico to expand economic exchange with other countries becomes more evident every year.

Ortiz said that the economic aspect will certainly pace the meeting’s agenda, although security and education are other areas of special interest which will be improved with the signing of nine bilateral agreements.

Dominican Republic sees Puerto Rico the natural gateway to the US market and a way to attract investment.

On security, Ortiz noted that Puerto Rico Police Chief Jose Caldero has visited the neighboring country several times to discuss measures against drug trafficking, whose South American networks operate in the Caribbean en route to the US and attributed some serious crime in both territories.

Meanwhile the Dominican government on Monday confirmed that the visit aims to continue the bilateral agenda both territories launched after Garcia’s visit to Dominican Republic last September.