H.E. Mr. Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos

Asia News Agency (ANA) caught up with the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic, H.E. Mr Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, to find out the genesis of the fast evolving relations between his country and India.

ANA: Your honourable Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Clara Quinones de Longo visited New Delhi in June 2008, to take part in the India-SICA (Central American Integration System) ministerial meeting. As an eminent associate member of the regional bloc, how do you perceive the potential of India-SICA alliance in the fields of trade and investments?

H.E.: First of all, let me preface these remarks with my appreciation for the space your magazine has kindly set aside to highlight the growing ties between the nations of India and the Dominican Republic (DR). I have had the privilege of acting as a trailblazer, doing my humble part to bring the countries ever closer. I am confident that media coverage of this quality and depth can only further the long-term goal of becoming strong partners.

There are a number of commodities that have the potential for exchange among the nations that comprise the India-SICA group. As Ambassador, I have been exploring all the possibilities in various sectors in order to expand the current flow of goods and resources. For example, at present, the Dominican Republic trades tobacco products and scrap metal with India. However, we are still at a very early stage of exploring other potential sources of commerce. Our experience as a long-time trading partner of the United States and Central America is at the entire disposal of the Indian people.

[expand title="Read More"]ANA: Excellency, you may be aware that India is ranked the 7th worst-hit country in the Climate Risk Index. According to Walter Vergara, World Bank Specialist on Climate Change for the Caribbean, the DR is also exposed to extreme climate events, impacting fishing and other coastal activities. The youth in both the countries are becoming increasingly vocal against the issue of climate change. As both the countries are looking forward to diversify their energy sources and focus more on renewable energy to tackle the issue of climate change, can cooperation in the non-conventional energy sector emerges another area of closer mutual ties?

H.E.: The Dominican Republic is definitely pursuing alternative sources of energy as a way to diminish its dependency on hydrocarbon fuels thereby decreasing its harmful emissions, and improving its balance of trade by devoting less of its budget to oil purchases. The island has enormous potential for both Eolic (wind) and solar energy, as well as ethanol due to its long-standing tradition as a sugar-producing area. Many investors, both local and foreign, have expressed interest in helping the Dominican Republic to develop future energy resources. We feel that technical expertise and managerial experience that we have accumulated to date on such projects have been positive, and could well become a source of exchange between nations. The Dominican Republic has a vibrant civil society with many non-governmental organizations specializing in environmental issues, and many of these organizations have also accumulated a great deal of expertise on ecological issues. For our tourism sector, the collaboration between the public and private sectors has been a key in achieving a more harmonious development in the recent past. We feel that preserving our fragile island eco-system in a sustainable manner will be the only logical way to attain the fullest possible benefit for the entire population. If we squander our natural resources, we will lose a large portion of our possibilities in the tourism and agro-export sectors.

ANA: Every year our Government offers five scholarships to the deserving students of the Dominican Republic to undergo training under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme .The DR is also being granted slots under the PCFD programme (Professional Course for Foreign Diplomats), initiated by the Foreign Service Institute in India. Excellency, how far these initiatives go in strengthening the bilateral relations between India and the DR? Can you please shed some light on how your country proposes to strengthen diplomatic and technical relations with India?

H.E.: These educational exchanges have always proven to be fruitful, because they offer the best opportunity for individuals to become familiar with the national cultures first-hand. These students who spend time in India become goodwill ambassadors, and are then capable of assisting the Dominican government and the private business sector to continually seek more ways of establishing linkages between the two nations. The Dominican Republic would like to continue negotiating with the Indian educational authorities to find other areas of possible exchange. We have educational institutions that have been training Dominicans and foreigners in all the different aspects of tourism – hotel administration, food and beverage, hospitality services, etc. On the other hand, we could probably continue to learn so much more from India on increasing our potential for tourism of historical landmarks or eco-tourism.

ANA: The DR is increasingly looking at India to secure its domestic needs. The DR's imports from India reached US$ 44 million in 2008, as against US$ 37 million in 2007, and are expected to rise to US$ 50 million in 2009-10. As traditional DR imports from India consist of pharmaceuticals, plastic and linoleum products, cotton textiles, readymade garments and tea, how do you propose to diversify the trade basket to include niche products?

H.E.: You may think that our similarities in climate may exclude the possibility of diversifying the export products, but I think that as our tourism sector grows, there may come a time when the need for other products will appear or those already viewed as traditional may increase even more. We could envision a profitable exchange in manufactured items which we may be purchasing from other countries at present. India has a thriving industrial sector which might supply the Dominican Republic some of its needs. Indian companies that have opened data processing and call centres in the country are generating employment for our youth and this is not counted in the trade numbers but has an immediate and positive effect on the people. Our strategic geographic locations, near the USA and the fact that we are members of three economic trade blocs, the Caribbean Region, Central America and the United States, makes us a natural strategic point for new Indian businesses that are looking at all three regions to expand.

ANA: Both India and the DR exude natural charm and attract millions of tourists in their enthralling tourist destinations. Thus tourism can be identified as a major driver of growth in bilateral relations. Information technology is another sphere where Indian skill and your talent can emerge as a potent combination to cater to the global IT/ITeS market. Excellency, can you please share with us what can be the other areas in which the two countries can forge a mutually enriching long-standing relationship?

H.E.: Sports? Maybe we can begin a cricket-for-baseball exchange? On a serious note, I believe we can certainly continue to exchange invaluable information in the areas you mentioned of tourism and information technology. I also think that both countries have complementary artistic experiences and sensibilities which could be further explored particularly music and graphic design. We are a very young country, compared to India, which is why our historical backgrounds could be complementary. Our youthful exuberance would benefit from exposure to India’s mature serenity. I would definitely love to see a Bollywood movie filmed in our country, I am positive that once more Indians see the natural beauty of the country, our resorts and beaches, and the ways of our people; tourism will thrive. We have actually seen an increase in numbers of tourists from India and Indian origin, especially those living in Canada, the USA and the UK, who are visiting our resorts and beaches frequently and they all fall in love with our tourism products. Geographic distances are no longer an issue and we are always trying to look for new airline options that make travelling between our regions easier. There are now flights from the Middle East to Latin America making travel to the region more accessible for those who don’t have visas for transiting via Europe and the United States. We are trying to sign a Civil Aviation agreement and hope to see an Indian carrier travelling directly to the Caribbean from India or via another country. The Dominican Republic is strategically located in the Americas, and can serve as a hub or connecting point to other Latin American and US destinations.

ANA: Growing cultural exchanges and regular consular visits have given a stronger dimension to the existing Indo-DR relationship. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations-sponsored (ICCR) Rajasthani Dance Troupe, ‘Living Arts’ visited the DR in October, 2008, making history on its own, as it was the first-ever government-level cultural visit between the countries. Excellency, given the fact that India and the DR both share a common passion for food, music and cosmopolitanism, how do you propose to strengthen people-to-people interaction and widen cultural cooperation between the two countries?

H.E.: The Dominican Government through its Embassy in India proposes to continue strengthening this interaction through continuous cultural exchanges, greater coverage of Indian cultural life in the Dominican Press, as well as an on-going program of diplomatic visits. The more the two countries know about each other, the stronger the bonds will be that will permit cooperation and collaboration as partners in all sectors. We would like to increase the number of exchange students, publications, digital publications for dissemination of said exchanges – in short, we would like to exponentially augment all the areas where Dominicans and Indians can find points of contact, common interests, and future possibilities for friendship. We have also had a Dominican Merengue group visit India for National Day 2009, and travelled to other cities of the subcontinent. We have recently translated a book of short stories to Bengali, we have had other Dominican performers visit Delhi and perform, through the assistance of ICCR and the Habitat Centre and we hope to increase these exchanges in the near future. We have had many ministerial visits from the Dominican Republic as well as trade delegations to India in various sectors and vice versa. These are the things that keep adding to generate more interest between both countries.