The United States and the Dominican Republic share a strong partnership based on democratic values and historic people-to-people ties. On the occasion of the inauguration of President Luis Abinader for his second term as the president of the Dominican Republic tomorrow, President Joe Biden sent a senior Presidential Delegation led by Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to extend his heartfelt congratulations to the government and the people of the Dominican Republic. Furthermore, the Biden-Harris Administration commits to continuing our support to the Dominican Republic in the areas of economic growth, energy, security, health, and human rights, and promoting a more democratic, secure, and prosperous Western Hemisphere. Here are some of the examples of the strength of our partnership:
INVESTING IN PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE TIES
Our two countries benefit from unique, shared bonds of friendship and community. Millions of Dominicans enrich communities across the United States and more than 4 million U.S. citizens visit the Dominican Republic each year.
- Investing in the Next Generation of Dominican Leaders: Embassy Santo Domingo has a collective educational and cultural exchange program alumni community of 31,000 emerging Dominican leaders. The two leading exchange programs are the Fulbright Foreign Student program consisting of almost 900 alumni, and the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) with almost 1,000 alumni.
- English Language Education: Embassy Santo Domingo has provided technical and funding support to bolster the Dominican government's English language immersion program at the university level. Over 20,000 students learned advanced English thanks to this program.
- Peace Corps: Since 1962, more than 5,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in the Dominican Republic. Currently, 93 volunteers work throughout the country in primary and secondary schools promoting literacy, life skills, and business and work skills in their communities.
PROMOTING INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH
The United States and the Dominican Republic are working together to promote inclusive economic growth, including through the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, launched in 2023 by President Biden and 11 regional partners, and a wide range of development programs.
- Open Skies Agreement: The United States and Dominican Republic signed a historic Open Skies Agreement on August 2, 2024. Once in effect, the Agreement will expand our strong economic and commercial partnership and create new opportunities for airlines, travel companies, and customers.
- U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Support: The Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is providing a $200 million direct loan to Banco Popular Dominicano to support the institution's lending to small businesses and women entrepreneurs - groups often underserved by traditional financial institutions. In addition, the DFC is providing a $42 million loan portfolio guaranty to Banreservas designed to support women entrepreneurs as well as small businesses and to promote green lending.
- The Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement: This agreement, known as DR-CAFTA has created new economic opportunities by eliminating tariffs, opening markets, reducing barriers to services, and promoting transparency. Various agencies within the United States have provided technical assistance to the Dominican Republic to address issues that arise under DR-CAFTA in areas including intellectual property, labor rights, the environment, and wildlife protection.
- Port of Manzanillo: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided $1.3 million to support the planning process of the port in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This project advised the Dominican government on port planning and project implementation, strengthening technical capacity to meet international standards and transparently tender approximately $2.5 billion in contracts for the port.
- Youth Opportunities: Through its $4.6 million Youth-Led Activity, USAID focuses on strengthening institutions and improving youth-friendly services to contribute to community resilience. We seek to expand the economic opportunities for vulnerable youth from poor and marginalized neighborhoods to ensure that youth find economic and social opportunities that offer a way of life free from crime and violence.
- Higher Education: USAID works with ISA University, the Technology University of Santiago, and the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo to replicate and test access and retention best practices for youth from high-risk environments. This $4.3 million investment promotes higher education attainment for these youth, improving their economic prospects and social stability.
INVESTING IN CLEAN ENERGY, CLIMATE RESILIENCE
Through the U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030 (PACC 2030), the United States and the Dominican Republic will deepen technological cooperation, advance the clean energy transition, and address and mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.
- Clean Energy Transition: The Department of Energy is supporting the Caribbean's clean energy transition through the Energy Resilience and Security in the Caribbean Fund. This $2.5 million fund is designed to provide the technical assistance necessary to implement clean energy solutions in the Caribbean in a broad range of sectors.
- Renewable Energy: The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) works with the Dominican Republic's Superintendent of Electricity to support the development of battery storage regulations. USTDA assesses gaps in existing regulations and will create a regulatory roadmap for the deployment of energy storage technologies throughout the power system. The United States seeks to help the DR government reduce the cost and environmental impact of electricity generation.
- Energy Reform: Through USAID's $8.8 million regional Energy Sector Reform in the Dominican Republic, programming aims to increase distributed renewable energy generation, assess where smart-grid technologies can be deployed to provide energy more efficiently, and explore renewable energy generation. As part of this work, USAID initiated the first in a series of energy cybersecurity training workshops in the Dominican Republic in December 2022.
- Locally-Led Resilience: USAID, through its $2.9 million Climate Adaptation Activity, aims to enhance environmental sustainability and resilience in the Dajabón region by improving natural resource management and adopting climate-smart agricultural practices.
- Cleaner Oceans: USAID's solid waste reduction programming aims to decrease waste in communities and municipalities in the Dominican Republic, leading to cleaner oceans. This $4.4 million activity supports municipalities to effectively manage, reduce, recycle and dispose of waste.
- Energy Transition Accelerator: At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2023, the U.S. Department of State, the Bezos Earth Fund, and the Rockefeller Foundation presented the core framework of the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA) and welcomed the Dominican Republic's announcement it would join the ETA as a pilot country. The ETA is an innovative carbon finance platform aimed at catalyzing private capital to support ambitious just energy transition strategies in developing and emerging economies.
HEALTH COLLABORATION AND FOOD SECURITY
The United States and Dominican Republic enjoy a longstanding partnership on health and food security, and our historic investment in the Dominican health and agricultural systems have impacted thousands of Dominican citizens.
- President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Program: The United States has invested over $270 million in the last 16 years to support the HIV response in the Dominican Republic through the PEPFAR program, implemented by USAID and Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The PEPFAR platform has allowed for health collaboration beyond HIV, including the DR's most recent designation as a global health security intensive support partner.
- Food Security: Since 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Foreign Agricultural Service has provided over $14 million in funding to support capacity building and training programs related to food security, such as the Safe Agriculture/Food Export (SAFE) project and the Trade Safe program.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food for Progress Program: The Foreign Agriculture Service has an active five-year, $13.5 million Food for Progress Program, dubbed Trade Safe. It aims to strengthen the Dominican Republic's sanitary and phytosanitary measures as well as strengthen the local food safety systems by supporting the implementation of science-and risk-based standards. These standards support critical regulatory improvements to facilitate increased agricultural trade between both countries.
- Resilient Agriculture: A $2.7 million, two-year USAID project launched in February 2024 will directly address the spike in food prices, crude oil, and commodities-including fertilizers and other common agricultural inputs-due to supply chain disruptions. The project aims to mobilize funding from the private sector and will benefit 1,500 farmers, 30 percent of them women and youth.
STRENGTHENING DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND RULE OF LAW
The United States supports the Abinader administration's efforts to strengthen democratic institutions, combat corruption, and improve the rule of law, as we understand these are fundamental to the Dominican Republic's economic transformation and social cohesion.
- Procurement Transparency: USAID's $3.1 million Procurement Transparency Activity, implemented by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Commercial Law Development Program, works to improve transparency, efficiency, and competition in the Dominican government procurement system by making recommendations on international best practices.
- Responsive Justice: To improve citizen security, USAID is investing more than $9.5 million to strengthen the Dominican Republic's existing justice system by-among other activities-helping improve criminal justice institutions' performance; reducing crime and violence, root causes of conflict through people-centered approaches; and strengthening the government's ability to provide legal services to vulnerable populations.
EXPANDING DEFENSE AND SECURITY COOPERATION
U.S.-Dominican defense and security ties serve as a cornerstone of our partnership. The Department of Defense (DoD) continues to cooperate with the Dominican Republic on many shared priorities, including building Dominican domain awareness, countering drug trafficking and other forms of transnational organized crime, climate resilience, developing humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities, and building institutional capacity. Defense and security ties serve as the cornerstone of our alliance.
As the United States and the Dominican Republic work to help enable a free and open Caribbean region, including through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), we celebrate advancements in our cooperation:
- Bilateral-Multilateral Training and Exercises: DoD and the Dominican Armed Forces conduct subject-matter expert exchanges and key leader engagements together, in which they share best practices in tactics, techniques, and procedures. The Dominican and U.S. militaries also participate together in exercises, including CENTAM Guardian, Tradewinds, Fuerzas Comando (Commando Forces), and in security conferences promoting regional cooperation on topics such as human rights.
- Armed Foreces Modernization: The United States is facilitating the Dominican military's acquisitions for modern platforms that will enhance the Dominican Armed Force's capabilities and maintain their interoperability with U.S. and allied systems. With the support of DoD, the Dominican Air Force established its National Southern Command at Barahona airport.
- International Military Education and Training: DoD promotes education programs to strengthen the continued professionalism and effectiveness of the Dominican military, enabling the military to support Dominican law enforcement authorities in safeguarding citizen security and countering illicit trafficking.
- Citizen Security: The State Department has provided comprehensive support to police transformation efforts in the Dominican Republic, including reformation of the police training curriculum to increase the focus on human rights; supporting human resource advising for career development; and providing major IT donations for data management, transparency and accountability.
- Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing: The Treasury Department has provided technical assistance to strengthen efforts to combat money laundering and to counter terrorism financing in the Dominican Republic, and the Department of State has helped establish the country's first Anti-Money Laundering Task Force.
ADVANCING RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR RIGHTS
The United States is committed to supporting the Dominican Republic to advance our shared values of freedom, democracy, and respect for human rights and labor rights.
- Combating Trafficking in Persons: With over $1 million in funding from the State Department, the United States continues to support "RD SIN TRATA," a program that aims to reduce the risk of trafficking and the revictimization of survivors by building the capacity of the Dominican Government and civil society to prevent, protect and prosecute trafficking cases and increase access to trauma-informed and victim-centered standard operating procedures for specialized shelter staff.
- Supporting Women and Care Workers: The USAID-funded Together We Care Project is working to promote better working conditions and social protections for care workers, address gender inequities in the health workforce, and formalize the domestic care economy.
- Advancing LGBTQI+ Rights: USAID's $2.3 million "Being LGBTQI In the Caribbean" activity strengthens the professional and institutional capacities of civil society organizations and individual activists dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) equality within the Caribbean.
REGIONAL LEADERSHIP
- Summit of the Americas: The United States and the Dominican Republic joined other governments to achieve bold hemispheric commitments on health and resilience, sustainability, digital transformation, the clean energy transition, and democratic governance at the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in 2022. The United States looks forward to supporting the Dominican Republic's agenda for the Tenth Summit of the Americas that the Dominican Republic will host in Punta Cana in 2025.
- The Alliance for Development and Democracy: The Dominican Republic, together with Costa Rica and Panama, launched the ADD in 2021 as a new multilateral forum to promote stronger democracy and deeper commercial and economic integration. Ecuador joined the group in 2022, and the four countries have collaborated with the United States to strengthen supply chains and improve economic competitiveness.
- Improved Stability in Haiti: The United States and the Dominican Republic have worked together to improve stability in Haiti, including through garnering diplomatic support for the United Nations-authorized Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti, working collaboratively with the Caribbean Community, and supporting trade preferences for Haiti's manufacturing sector.
