President of the Santiago Retailers and Industrialists Association (ACIS) Mr. Luis Nunez made an important point that the Dominican Republic must resume again its exporting culture, and take full advantage of the DR-CAFTA trade accord’s opportunities. 

This will contribute to new investments and also create much needed jobs. Yesterday at the meeting with members of the U.S. Supermarkets Owners National Association (NSA) Mr. Nunez said that from its importance to this country, fundamentally after the DR-CAFTA took effect, the NSA can a and must play a major strategic role.   

He said “To count on the support of this institution is a competitive advantage, especially if we seek to reduce the impact that this agreement will have on the national agriculture and agribusiness.” 

Nunez said that Dominicans who are affiliated with the NSA currently direct and with a growing market of 362 large supermarkets having an estimated sales turn over of US$3 billion in the U.S. market. 

He continued to say that the meetings objective is to extend the social and business links between the Dominican producers and the supermarket owners themselves. 

NSA President Francisco Jorge said the positioning of Dominican Tropical products in the United States depends on their quality, pricing and presentation.  He said in the past they had tried to revive negotiations with producers and intermediaries to place their produce within the network of U.S supermarkets, but have previously failed. 

Now with a feeling of greater willingness there’s a different prospective and the ACIS’s persistence according to Jorge will be crucial to reach that goal.   

The most popular products to be exported from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. are vegetables, avocados and mangos.