Where'd DR-CAFTA go?

[NewsWhore]

It was highly touted and keenly anticipated, but one year after the introduction of the free trade agreement, the DR can show few benefits from DR-CAFTA. According to Hoy, the DR has a negative trade deficit with the US and other CAFTA countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua). The only exception is Nicaragua with whom the DR registered a surplus in the balance of trade. According to Industry & Commerce Minister Melanio Paredes, the DR's exports to the US only increased by 6%, excluding production in the free trade zones (FTZs). During that same period US exports towards the DR increased by 18%. Paredes added that the necessary studies are being completed to determine what the actual balance of trade between the US and the DR should be. Andres Vanderhorst, director of the National Competitiveness Council explained that the signing of DR-CAFTA was inevitable. Nevertheless, he insisted that Dominican exports to the US market have to increase. Paredes says that for the DR to take advantage of the treaty, Dominican companies need to change the way in which they manage their business. He says that they must realize that the government will facilitate business opportunities and that business organizations are trying to strengthen the business climate in the DR. As for products that have not seen a reduction of price since the introduction of DR-CAFTA, Pablo Amaury Espinal, director of Foreign Trade at the Minister of Industry of Commerce, said that they are conducting research to determine why this has been the case so far.

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