NewsWhore
05-04-2012, 04:40 PM
The Australian Prime Minister's Special Envoy to Latin America, John McCarthy is in the Dominican Republic to drum up more business and exchanges for Australia in the Dominican Republic. McCarthy is visiting this week as part of new interest of Australia in building relationships with countries in Latin America, both bilaterally and regionally in commercial, political, culture and people-to-people circles. The government of Australia says that Australia and the Dominican Republic's bilateral relationship is growing.
Reportedly, in recent years significant Australian investment has been taking place in the mining industry. Australian mining company Perilya owns and operates the Cerro Maimon copper and gold mine, said to be worth US$70 million in initial investment. At the present time Perilya employs 220 Dominicans in the mine. Another Australian mining firm, PanTerra Gold also reports investing US$84 million in commissioning the Las Lagunas mine to re-treat the mine tailings from the old Pueblo Viejo mine. A number of Australian mining service companies have also been engaged in the DR.
McCarthy visited with Australian ambassador to the Dominican Republic Katrina Cooper and Karin Menday from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Australia and met with representatives of the Commonwealth Roundtable to discuss opportunities for growth in the commercial relationship.
During the visit the appointment of an Australian Honorary Consul is listed as a priority for Australia to establish, for the first time, a permanent Australian government presence in the country. The nomination will be announced during the second half of the year.
On McCarthy's Dominican agenda are discussions with Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales on cooperation between Australia and the DR in a range of global challenges. The signing of a memorandum of understanding for the placement of Australian volunteers to share expertise and work in the DR in a number of key areas, like English teacher development, was announced.
Last year, Deputy Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Trullols visited Australia to participate in the Commonwealth and Small Developing States meeting on climate change.
Trade between the DR and Australia was at around US$31 million in 2010-11, with the main imports from Australia being base metals, ships and boats. The DR exported medical instruments.
Australia also announced that the government has made available Australia Awards Scholarships to Dominican applicants and the first Dominican scholarships would be awarded for 2013. In the education sector, Australia is supporting a number of direct aid program projects in the Dominican Republic. The first is supporting a local NGO (CEDANI) to develop a mini-hydro system in a community near Puerto Plata, worth US$24,000. A second is a joint project with Perilya, Barrick Gold and the Canadian Embassy (contribution of US$15,000) to work with the local community to improve transparency and effective governance in the administration of mining royalties in the areas of Maimon and Cotui.
The government of Australia estimates there are around 40-50 Australians already living in the Dominican Republic and 4,000 visiting annually.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#11)
Reportedly, in recent years significant Australian investment has been taking place in the mining industry. Australian mining company Perilya owns and operates the Cerro Maimon copper and gold mine, said to be worth US$70 million in initial investment. At the present time Perilya employs 220 Dominicans in the mine. Another Australian mining firm, PanTerra Gold also reports investing US$84 million in commissioning the Las Lagunas mine to re-treat the mine tailings from the old Pueblo Viejo mine. A number of Australian mining service companies have also been engaged in the DR.
McCarthy visited with Australian ambassador to the Dominican Republic Katrina Cooper and Karin Menday from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Australia and met with representatives of the Commonwealth Roundtable to discuss opportunities for growth in the commercial relationship.
During the visit the appointment of an Australian Honorary Consul is listed as a priority for Australia to establish, for the first time, a permanent Australian government presence in the country. The nomination will be announced during the second half of the year.
On McCarthy's Dominican agenda are discussions with Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales on cooperation between Australia and the DR in a range of global challenges. The signing of a memorandum of understanding for the placement of Australian volunteers to share expertise and work in the DR in a number of key areas, like English teacher development, was announced.
Last year, Deputy Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Trullols visited Australia to participate in the Commonwealth and Small Developing States meeting on climate change.
Trade between the DR and Australia was at around US$31 million in 2010-11, with the main imports from Australia being base metals, ships and boats. The DR exported medical instruments.
Australia also announced that the government has made available Australia Awards Scholarships to Dominican applicants and the first Dominican scholarships would be awarded for 2013. In the education sector, Australia is supporting a number of direct aid program projects in the Dominican Republic. The first is supporting a local NGO (CEDANI) to develop a mini-hydro system in a community near Puerto Plata, worth US$24,000. A second is a joint project with Perilya, Barrick Gold and the Canadian Embassy (contribution of US$15,000) to work with the local community to improve transparency and effective governance in the administration of mining royalties in the areas of Maimon and Cotui.
The government of Australia estimates there are around 40-50 Australians already living in the Dominican Republic and 4,000 visiting annually.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#11)