Ambassador Sonia Guzmán highlights diaspora impact on Dominican economy at the Capitol

Washington, United States—During a speech on Capitol Hill, Washington, United States—the Dominican ambassador to the United States, Sonia Guzman, highlighted the Dominican community’s impact abroad on the Dominican Republic’s domestic economy.

Sonia Guzman said that according to Central Bank figures, in 2023, the country received US$10,157.2 million in remittances. Of this, some US$8,532 million, 84% of the total received, came from the community established in the United States.

Guzman also highlighted that the United States continues to be the Dominican Republic’s leading trading partner, claiming that in 2023, bilateral trade between the Dominican Republic and the United States totaled US$18,072 million, where we exported a total of US$6,489 million in Dominican products and goods to the United States, representing 54.38% of the total exported by the country.

“Exports from the DR to the US has not been reduced; what decreased were mining exports due to a drop in their production and prices,” informed the diplomat.

She also noted that the United States is the number one country issuing non-resident foreign tourists to the Dominican Republic, representing 46.8% of the total number of tourists received.

Professional growth of Dominicans
During her speech at the Capitol, Sonia Guzman said, “The Dominican community in the United States is a moving force that continues to grow, not only in quantity, averaging about 2.3 million, but also in quality, as more and more Dominicans living in the United States have been educated and overcome, and currently occupy positions of relevance at the political, commercial, cultural, academic, economic, health and other levels, which fills us with pride.”

Guzman added, “Dominicans are the fourth largest Latino community in the US, after Mexicans, Salvadorans, and Cubans, and we know how they have been efficiently integrating into US society and have reached levels of employment and education like never before.”

Diplomatic relations between the DR and the US
The Dominican ambassador to the US, Sonia Guzman, indicated that the Dominican Republic and the United States will celebrate 140 years of diplomatic relations established in 1884 next March.

She said that the relationship between the two countries continues to be one of friendship and close collaboration, as was highlighted during the visit of President Luis Abinader to the White House last November, where he held a successful bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House with President Joe Biden, in the framework of the summit of heads of states of the Alliance for Economic Prosperity of the Americas (APEP).

The ambassador indicated that this alliance focuses on the development of regional economic competitiveness and the promotion of greater inclusion to contribute to financial stability and prosperity, which is part of the program of the Dominican Presidency, as is the prosperity of all Dominicans, both those living in the national territory and those residing abroad.

Sonia Guzman congratulated all Dominicans who have put down roots in the United States of America and urged them to remain united, working, and always maintaining a close link with the Dominican Republic.