Dominican Republic exports to Cuba up

Santo Domingo.-The Dominican Republic is the fourth largest exporter of products to Cuba inLatin America and the Caribbean, for a value of US$52.4 million in 2015.

Afull 60.9 % of this total accounts for just nine local products, for a value ofUS$32 million.

“Theopening up of Cuba is an opportunity for the country to diversify the quantityof merchandise that it exports to this market,” says a study by the Advice,Consultancy and Research Office (OACI).

Thereport, by Ángel de Jesús Checo Escalante, states that the main productsexported from the DR to Cuba include malted beer, ingredients for sauces and animalfeed components.

Thesethree products combined represented 42% of the total sold last year, accordingto the report, “Description of the Trade Exchange between DR and Cuba.”

Itsays that malted beer, with sales worth US$8.2 million, is a relatively newexport that only started in 2014. Other products are semi-finished ironmaterials and ethyl alcohol.