Santo Domingo.- The Roundtable of Commonwealth Countries inaugurated a series of conferences on the Commonwealth Countries at UNIBE University last week, where Dominicans were able to learn of the bloc’s social, political, economic, trade and expecially academic reality.

In his opening speech, Roundatable president Fernando Gonzalez Nicolas said the conferences will become a source of new opportunities for information, contacts, references, on other venues, and noted that the center of higher learning was chosen for the event, because “UNIBE is today is the most international of Dominican universities.”

He said the lecturers will include the ambassadors from the United Kingdom, and continue with Canada, Malaysia, Australia and India among others.

“The Commonwealth Countries are a source of wealth, knowledge and technologies for Dominicans,” Gonzalez said of the 54 nations scattered in all 6 continents. “Many big as Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, Britain, Nigeria, but also small ones such as Barbados, Trinidad, Barbados, Singapore, Mauritius, and Malta.”

“The Commonwealth countries have the same idiosyncrasies, similar legal and political system. Are all democratic control 25 percent of world trade and has 30 of the world population,” the business leader said, notihg that queen Elizabeth II of Britain heads that group of nations.

Gonzalez stressed that Commonwealth Countries are home to the world’s major mining, oil, banking and other conglomerates, which are Dominican Republic’s largest foreign investors today.

He said the Roundtable aims to promote Commonwealth-Dominican Republic relations, which in his view have the potential to contribute to the development plans of president Danilo Medina’s Administration. “Which can be done precisely and at once effective.”

Gonzalez added that Commonwealth Countries can contribute to the Dominican Republic’s tourism, small businesses, agriculture, education, oil and mining.

The UK starts the cycle

UK Ambassador Steven Fisher was the invited lecturer to the conference, attended by the presidents of the chambers of commerce Dominican-British, Campos de Moya; of the

Dominican-Canadian, Eduardo Dominguez Imbert, and Roberto Herrera, treasurer of the Roundtable; Unibe president Dr. Julio Castaños Guzmán and senior government officials and business leaders.