U.S. ambassador warns that corruption undermines Free Trade

http://www.dominicantoday.com 07/02/07

Santo Domingo.-The economic competitiveness and benefits that the Free Trade Agreement signed with the United States and Central America (DR-CAFTA) could be affected if the country doesn’t confront the corruption phenomenon firmly.

United States ambassador Hans Hertell said yesterday that the treaty’s purpose is not only to expand trade, but also to try to level the playing field for both countries, promoting greater transparency, governance and institutionality.

For that reason he called the attention of the industrialists on the need to cooperate so that Dominican Republic can take advantage of the economic opportunities that will arise when the DR-CAFTA takes effect.

Hertell spoke on the topic in the conference "Competitiveness and business transparency: a challenge facing the DR-CAFTA," directed to the enterprise sector.

The U.S. diplomat took advantage of the occasion to ask the industrialists to finance part of a campaign that seeks to promote the business anticorruption interests and which belongs to the USAID’s Transparency and Citizen Action Program.