The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

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THE DOMINICAN-ITALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
present in New York, and shops are soon expected to open in
Europe and Japan.
According to the Dominican writer, archaeologist, and
anthropologist Marcio Veloz Maggiolo, the number of Do-
minicans of Italian descent is approximately 300,000, which is
in addition to the 50,000 Italians residing permanently in the
country,2 thus making this community one of the largest of
its kind in the Caribbean region. Many members of the Ital-
ian community play important roles in nearly all sectors of
the country’s economy. They serve as members of boards of
directors and hold top positions at leading domestic and inter-
national market companies in the sectors of chemicals, tour-
ism, finance, and the import-export of motor vehicles, making
them stalwarts of the Dominican economy.
As Italian Ambassador Andrea Canepari stated at an event
organized by the Dominican-Italian Chamber of Commerce, while referring to the ties that unite Italy with
the Dominican Republic, “We are linked not only by great friendship and sympathy, but also by Italian men
and women, Dominicans of Italian origin, and friends of Italy who are increasingly committed to creating new
opportunities and who until now have resolutely supported the initiatives of the Italian embassy.”
Among the families of Italian origin who have made pivotal contributions to the advancement of the
Dominican Republic, the most noteworthy are the Cambiasos, Marranzinis, Pelleranos, Vicinis, Rainieris,
Barlettas, Bonarellis, Bonettis, and Billinis.
The Dominican Republic is a leading and rapidly growing country in the region, and the companies and
initiatives founded by these and other families provide direct employment for approximately 50,000 people
and indirect employment to 110,000, representing 7.9 percent of the Dominican GDP, which totals an equiv-
alent of US$173 billion.3
Between Italy and the Dominican Republic, there are attractive business opportunities structured to gen-
erate mutual benefits, thereby contributing to further commercial development. To take advantage of these
opportunities, the Dominican-Italian Chamber of Commerce has implemented a relaunch strategy that is
divided into four priority activities:
• Organizing events aimed at deepening knowledge among members, exchanging ideas and projects. In
addition to in-person events, online events will be scheduled in the various forms of webinar, web confer-
ence, web training, and web meeting, based on the interest for web-based training and marketing, forms
of promotion, and sales, which could offer interesting information and assistance.
• Strengthening relations, as directly as possible, with Italian entrepreneurs to increase commercial exchange
between the two countries, while also fostering loyalty through personal relationships.
• Improving communications using the Association’s social networks, so that members become more in-
volved in the initiatives of the Chamber, thus ensuring useful feedback on those initiatives.
• Enhancing the relationship between the Dominican-Italian Chamber and Assocamerestero Italia4 and the
Chambers of Commerce of the ACCA Area (Central America, the Caribbean, and the Andean Pact) so as
to identify common policies through annual meetings and webinars.
ENDNOTES
1 Registered in the AIRE database (Registry of Italians Residing
Abroad) of the Embassy of Italy in Santo Domingo.
2
ed/Historia_Italianos_Republica_Dominicana.pdf.
3 CIA World Factbook. GDP (purchasing power parity) 2017.
4
The Chancellor of the
Dominican Republic
Miguel Vargas, the
Minister of Industry
and Commerce Nelson
Toca Simó, the Vice-
Minister of Economy
and International
Cooperation of the
Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Hugo Rivera,
the Ambassador of the
Dominican Republic in
Italy Alba María Cabral,
the Ambassador of
the Order of Malta
Frank Rainieri, and
the Ambassador of
Italy in the Dominican
Republic Andrea
Canepari and his wife
Dr. Roberta Canepari
at the inauguration
of the new Italian-
Dominican Chamber of
Commerce. October 3,
2019.
© Dominican-Italian
Chamber of Commerce