Leaders urge Dominican Republic congressmen to
finalize Congressional approval of DR-CAFTA
by Ramon Cedano
Caribbean Net News Dominican Republic Correspondent
E-mail: ramonce@tricom.net
Thursday, June 30, 2005
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic: As hearings on the DR-Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States (DR-CAFTA) approach in the US house, its supporters in the Dominican Republic are stepping up their lobbying efforts on the Dominican Congress to pass it into law before it is debated in the US congress.
Standing out prominently among them is the United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Hans H. Hertell, who stressed that an early approval of the agreement would be a very positive signal that the country is committed to the free trade agenda, and that doing otherwise might be construed as opportunistic.
Ambassador Hertell points out Dominican consumers will be the major beneficiaries of the agreement since they will receive savings from 20% to 30% off the cost of about 80% percent of US made products. Hertell is optimistic that DR-CAFTA will be approved by the US Congress as early as next July, and urged on the Dominican legislators to lend it their support.
For his part, President Leonel Fernandez, speaking on his weekly Television program, appealed to the Dominican Congress to hasten approval of the legislation so that the country might benefit from access to higher quality products at lower prices. President Fernandez sees the agreement as an opportunity for Dominican businesses since they will become more competitive in the global market place by having access to US made raw materials.
Although most business sector leaders in the Dominican Republic support DR-CAFTA, they have not been able to agree with the government on a fiscal reform to make up for the US$75M and US$26M the State will lose as a result of its passing in the first and second years, respectively, through the elimination of tariffs.
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