Dominican Republic wants strong ties with a Trump White House

Santo Domingo.- Administration minister JoséRamón Peralta on Wednesday said the Government of the Dominican Republic willcontinue to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties with the US, whose administrationwill soon be headed by Donald Trump.

He said the United States is the country’smain trade partner, a nation which he affirms has historically had excellentcommercial, diplomatic and friendly relations.

Responding media questions in the NationalPalace, the official called the fact that the Americans held democraticelections in which the Republican Party candidate was chosen, "a normalevent."

"The United States has been our maintrading partner and with whom we have had extraordinary relationships. We willcontinue to have strong and good relationships. We only have to congratulatethe American people," Peralta said.

He said the Trump choice was a sovereigndecision of the American people, "for which we as a sovereign country (DominicanRepublic) also respect."

He president Danilo Medina’s administration willcontinue its efforts to strengthen those relations with the firm intention thatboth nations make the best possible use of their respective markets.

"The benefit is mutual, since the UnitedStates is the country that hosts the most Dominicans, and we receive from thatdestination the largest economic contribution to tourism," Peralta said,adding that for the US, the Dominican Republic is the Caribbean’s largest marketfor many of its finished products.