VZCZCXRO4872
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHDG #1050/01 1232002
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 032002Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8143
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 001050 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
COMMERCE FOR A/S HERNANDEZ FROM CHARGE D'AFFAIRES BULLEN 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/EEB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT APER ECON EINT EINV ETRD JM XL DR
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY - SANTO DOMINGO: REQUEST TO 
RECONSIDER COMMERCIAL SERVICE CLOSURES IN KINGSTON, PORT OF 
SPAIN AND BRIDGETOWN 
 
REF: A. A) PORT OF SPAIN 435 
 
     ¶B. B) BRIDGETOWN 499 
     ¶C. C) KINGSTON 640 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: Embassy Santo Domingo concurs fully with issues 
raised in Refs A, B, C, and we urge Commerce's 
reconsideration of its proposal to close its offices in the 
listed countries. 
 
- That, for population size, the region represents a 
significant and growing market for U.S. exports. 
 
- The vagaries of inter-island travel will make regional 
coverage less than optimal. 
 
- Without trained personnel on the ground devoted solely to 
U.S. export promotion, other competitors (i.e. China, UK, 
Canada and Venezuela) will exploit market opportunities and 
gain market share.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  The Caribbean represents a 15 billion dollar export 
market for the U.S. and must not be taken for granted.  The 
closure of the three satellite offices, which cover 11 
countries from Barbados, Trinidad, and Jamaica at a time when 
other countries, particularly the Chinese, are expanding 
their presence in the region will surely result in a 
significant reduction in U.S. company's ability to compete in 
this region. 
 
¶3.  DR-CAFTA has significantly increased the workload in the 
FCS office in the Dominican Republic.  The office was fully 
engaged in the process to work through the issues that were 
blocking the entry into force of the FTA and played a 
critical role in monitoring and interacting with their 
colleagues in the Embassy with the GODR.  Now, with the FTA 
fully functioning, FCS has the lead on most issues relating 
to dealing with conflicts and the practical testing the new 
rules and laws that govern trade, government procurement, and 
other important elements of the FTA. 
 
¶4.  Whether it is the size of FCS' outbound trade 
delegations, the number of export successes they report, 
their revenue generation, or practically any other indicator, 
FCS DR's program operations are increasing, relative to their 
past experience, or when compared to any of our neighbors in 
the region.  The same is true for the three satellite 
offices.  If the offices in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad 
are closed, there will be a very large increase in the 
workload imposed on FCS Santo Domingo. 
 
¶5.  Right now, the DR/Caribbean (all 4 offices) handle many 
requests (daily) from Embassies, US companies and USEACs for 
assistance in exporting to the region including countries not 
covered by FCS.  Partnership posts are not proficiently 
trained to provide FCS services and require significant 
hand-holding from DR staff. 
 
¶6.  Reftels pointed out the growing perception within CARICOM 
that the region is being neglected.  The closure of the three 
will certainly cement that perception and leave the door wide 
open for others to exploit.  We have already seen the Chinese 
aggressive trade promotion activities, where Chinese exports 
to the region went from virtually nil ten years ago, and now 
stands at U.S. 4 billion per year. 
 
¶7.  While our regional office here in Santo Domingo backstops 
and provides guidance to the three offices in question, there 
is absolutely no substitute for an ongoing on the ground 
presence to mobilize, explore and seal U.S. trade 
opportunities with local business entities.  Another issue 
with which regional travel must contend, is the travel time 
between islands.  An example of this is that two days is lost 
in travel from post to and from serviced posts. 
 
¶8.  Because these Islands speak English as a first language 
it may be believed that they are easy for U.S. companies to 
do business.  The opposite is the truth.  The size of 
government, lack of sophistication of the private sector and 
tendency toward protectionism makes the need for specialized 
U.S.G. support critical for our companies to compete. 
 
¶9.  It is reasonable to say that the increase to their 
workload has yet to be assessed, and despite the FCS staff's 
ability and dedication, this new challenge will be daunting. 
Closure of these offices should be reconsidered considering 
the growing demand for imports and escalating competition 
from other countries, especially the Chinese.  The recent 
 
SANTO DOMI 00001050  002 OF 002 
 
 
economic growth and increases in investment in the DR will 
occupy whatever reserve time and energy the FCS DR office 
has.  The expertise of FCS cannot be substituted by State 
Econ  Commercial resources, no matter how much they try. 
Their skill set is different.  I urge you to take the time to 
reassess the impact of this closure and seriously reconsider 
maintaining FCS' presence in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados. 
BULLEN