A trade mission of 15 Puerto Rican companies will be in the country from the 13th to the 17th of this month in search of business and investment opportunities and to establish partnership ties with Dominican companies to market their products on the Isla del Encanto.
Regarding this mission, Listín Diario spoke in an exclusive interview with the executive director of the Office of the Government of Puerto Rico in the Dominican Republic, Nelson Rafael Torres Martínez, who pointed out that, without a doubt, the Dominican Republic is the most important commercial partner of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.
Below is the full interview.
What is the main objective of this trade mission in the Dominican Republic?
The objective is clear: take the commercial relationship between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to a higher stage. This mission does not arise from improvisation, it responds directly to the public policy outlined by Governor Jenniffer González-Colón, whose vision from the beginning of her administration has been to expand markets for Puerto Rican companies and strengthen economic ties with our natural partners in the region.
The Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce, Sebastián Negrón Reichard, has been the architect of this internationalization strategy, and this mission is a concrete expression of it.
From our Office in Santo Domingo, we have been building the foundation for this moment for years: identifying opportunities, validating contacts and preparing the ground.
We have structured an agenda of direct meetings between fifteen Puerto Rican companies and their Dominican counterparts. This prior commercial intelligence work is what distinguishes these missions, they do not come to explore blindly, they come to negotiate.
And there is an additional component that I am very excited about: we are positioning Puerto Rico as a Dominican investment destination, particularly in view of the Investment Forum sponsored by the Municipality of Mayagüez. Growth has to be in both directions.
What relevance does the Dominican Republic have in Puerto Rico’s foreign trade statistics?
The Dominican Republic is, without a doubt, Puerto Rico’s most important trading partner in the Caribbean. In 2024, bilateral exchange was around US$1.2 billion, with Dominican exports to Puerto Rico of approximately US$698 million and Puerto Rican exports to here of about US$476 million.
But beyond the numbers, what catches my attention is the trajectory. This relationship is not stagnant, it is growing. And from here, from Santo Domingo, I see every day that there is room to scale significantly in added value and sector diversification.
Puerto Rico remains among the main Dominican export destinations, and that speaks for itself about the depth of this bond.
What are the main products or sectors that lead Puerto Rican exports to the region?
Puerto Rico has a highly specialized export base. Pharmaceutical products and medical devices represent more than 50% of our total exports, reflecting high value-added manufacturing.
To the Dominican Republic, the main items include electrical equipment, medical instruments, food and construction materials. But what seems most relevant to me about this mission is that we are incorporating sectors that we were not so present before: technology, software, professional services, consulting and creative industries.
This is an important qualitative advance, and responds precisely to Secretary Negrón Reichard’s directive to diversify our exportable offer towards markets of greater value and sophistication. It not only diversifies the offer, but also allows us to develop more sustainable commercial relationships over time.
What economic indicators make the Dominican market attractive for Puerto Rican companies?
The Dominican Republic is the largest economy in the Caribbean, and its macroeconomic fundamentals are solid. It has registered record levels of foreign direct investment, sustained growth in exports, expansion of formal employment and robust performance in free zones.
For 2026, GDP growth is projected to be around 4.5%, driven by resilient domestic demand. This translates into an expanding middle class and a very dynamic business sector.
What I see from here, working on the day to day of this relationship, is a natural complementarity that we are still underutilizing. Puerto Rico must position itself strategically in the Caribbean and Latin America, and the Dominican Republic is the natural gateway for that strategy.
While this economy grows in tourism, construction and light manufacturing, Puerto Rico contributes capabilities in advanced manufacturing, innovation and professional services. That combination opens up concrete opportunities that we have not yet fully exploited.
What quantifiable goals have been set for this commercial mission?
This mission has clear metrics. Each participating company arrives with an agenda of meetings with potential buyers and partners that we have previously validated from our Office. We plan more than one hundred business meetings during the week.
But the volume of meetings is not the indicator that matters most to me. What we are looking for is real conversion: for each company to leave with at least one specific negotiation underway.
Historical numbers support this approach. Between 2022 and 2025, with an investment of $1,312,839.82 in STEP funds, reported sales of $66.9 million were generated approximately 51 times the investment. That level of return is the standard that Secretary Negron Reichard has set for us, and it is the one that we want to sustain and exceed.
What is the expected business participation and what sectors will be represented?
The delegation is made up of fifteen Puerto Rican companies selected for their export capacity and potential for international expansion. They represent manufacturing, food and beverage, technology, professional services, software, logistics and healthcare.
Several of them are already evaluating establishing a presence in the Dominican Republic, through local distributors and strategic alliances.
We have handled all coordination work directly from this Office, which exists precisely because of Governor González-Colón’s vision of maintaining a permanent institutional presence of Puerto Rico in Santo Domingo. We guarantee that every meeting is meaningful and that no one’s time is wasted.
What type of Dominican partners are Puerto Rican companies looking for?
Basically three profiles. Distributors with real knowledge of the local market and access to marketing channels; institutional and corporate buyers in healthcare, technology and food and beverages, etc.; and strategic partners with a long-term vision to develop solutions aimed at both the Dominican and regional markets.
And there is something that seems equally important to me: we are identifying Dominican investors interested in expanding to Puerto Rico. Operating within a US jurisdiction has very specific structural advantages, and there are Dominican entrepreneurs who know this and are exploring it. This relationship is genuinely two-way.
What expectations exist in terms of foreign direct investment, particularly in the Mayagüez Investment Forum?
The Investment Forum sponsored by the Municipality of Mayagüez is a concrete opportunity that we are actively promoting here in Santo Domingo, and is part of the investment attraction agenda led by Secretary Negrón Reichard under the mandate of Governor González-Colón to diversify and strengthen the economy of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico’s competitive advantages are real: access to the US market, a very competitive tax framework, developed infrastructure, bilingual talent and the legal security of the federal system. Mayagüez, in particular, has important strategic attributes, port infrastructure, geographic location and industrial development capacity, which make investment in manufacturing, logistics and specialized services very attractive.
Our objective is to advance conversations that become concrete projects within a horizon of twelve to twenty-four months. That’s what we’re working on.
What message do you send to the Dominican business community?
That this is a moment of structural opportunity that we must not miss. Puerto Rico closed 2025 with approximately US$62.4 billion in exports, reflecting a solid productive base oriented toward international trade.
The vision is clear: Puerto Rico must be an active and competitive player in regional trade, and the Dominican Republic is our priority partner in that strategy. Secretary Negrón Reichard is executing that vision with determination, and this Office in Santo Domingo is the operational arm of that effort on the ground.
My message to the Dominican business community is direct: come to explore, to invest, to build long-term alliances. This Office exists precisely to accompany this process, facilitate contacts, reduce friction and convert opportunities into concrete results. That’s what we’re here for, and that’s what we focus on every day.
