A $2 Billion Investment Plan between Haiti & Dominican Republic

The world of foreign relations is tricky to navigate. They are often outcomes of differences of opinions, cultural and religious barriers and economic and military interests that are at odds. However, sometimes, the people of two countries form an alliance that is mutually beneficial, as we found in a bilateral cooperation agreement, but without any primary involvement of their governments. Recently, as per news report dated Thursday, October 1, 2015, in an interview with Fox News Latino, Rafael Blanco Canto, the president of the D.R.'s National Council of the Private Enterprise has said that there is a $2 billion investment plan under discussion among the private investors of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Four areas of investments have been identified along the 250-mile-long border between the two countries and it would create thousands of factory and agricultural jobs and develop the tourism infrastructure in both the countries on one island.

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This intention of the Dominican investors supports their attempt to maintain their dominance in the Caribbean tourism industry. In 2013, the D.R was named as the "Top Tourist Destination of the Year" by Expedia.co,. During that year, out of its total 4.7 million visitors, one out of four was from the United States. Further, Blanco expects that the warming of relations between the U.S. and Cuba will benefit Dominican tourism. As per The World Bank's Worldwide Data (2014), the number of calendar days needed to complete the procedures to legally start and operate a business in Haiti is 97 days and it is only 20 days in the Dominican Republic and furthermore, its 'Ease of Doing Business Index (2014) places Haiti in the 180th rank while it puts the Dominican Republic, much ahead in the 84th place.

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