Haiti ban prods Dominican Republic toward new markets

Santo Domingo.- To keep local producers safe from measures such as Haiti’s ban on poultry and eggs, the government eyes new markets for Dominican Republic’s entire range of products.

Industry and Commerce minister José del Castillo made the statement Thursday and announced shipments of 6.0 million pounds of chicken to Venezuela each month, in addition to the black beans-for-oil barter within the Petrocaribe agreement. "We’re in an aggressive attitude in various markets, especially those where we have free trade agreements, which offer advantages for our products."

He said Haiti is a key market of US$2.0 billion for Dominican Republic because "we share the island and are forced to walk a common path, and they also have production shortfalls in many items that we can supply."

Ties not affected

Foreign minister Carlos Morales affirmed that Haiti’s ban will not affect bilateral relations, because in his view the situation would be solved soon. "We hope they’ll honor the commitment to lift the ban. I must also say that on a personal level relations between presidents Danilo Medina and Michel Martelly are excellent."