The Dominican Republic, a Caribbean representative democracy, occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola and has a population that totals nearly 9.2 million.    

The country has valuable natural resources – nickel, bauxite, gold and silver.  However, the country is primarily dependent on tourism and related services and the exportation of goods for robust economic expansion.  Investment in the burgeoning tourism industry is the source of most U.S. foreign direct investment in the country, which reached US$1 billion in 2004.  Dominicans’ export portfolio consists of the country’s traditional agriculture products – sugar, coffee and tobacco – and free-trade-zone manufactured products, including amongst other goods garments and footwear.   Though, it is important to note that remittances to the Dominican Republic – totaling US$ 2.7 billion in 2004 – have the potential to be a catalyst for   sustainable growth and development in future years.    

Tourism and the rest of the service industry (including financial services) is the country’s economic engine – accounting for 61 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and employing nearly as large a portion of the population (60 percent).  The sector’s strong performance in recent years is largely responsible for the astounding 9.3 percent increase in GDP in 2005.  Yet the country suffers from persistent income inequality: the wealthiest 10 percent of the population owns almost 40 percent of national wealth, while the bottom half receives less than one-fifth of Gross National Product (GNP).  

Rural development is a critical concern because rural Dominicans feel the brunt of the country’s income disparities. Additionally, though agriculture is the strength of the rural economy – employing the majority of the rural poor – inadequate rural infrastructure, vulnerability to changes in the international price for agriculture commodities and natural disasters (hurricanes) jeopardizes agriculture production, hindering consistent rural economic performance.  Consequently, reduction in rural poverty levels is critical to the fulfillment of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.      

 (The note above is from the UN Department of Public Information)

• Infrastructure building, (roads, bridges, etc);                               
• Safe water and hygiene;
• Agro-business;
• Mining;
• Textile, garments and handicrafts;
• Tourism;
• Development of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and financial sectors;
• Information and communication technology (ICT);
• Energy and sanitation and
• Attracting remittances, foreign direct investments and foreign trade.