Víctor Bisonó, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Mipymes. ( EXTERNAL SOURCE )
The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Mipymes (MICM), Víctor Bisonó, said yesterday that, in these times, the use of manufacturing techniques, machinery or tools that add value to production and give innovative results is an essential action to stay in the agro-industrial market, to continue producing and exporting quality Dominican products to increasingly demanding markets.
Speaking about Innovation in the Agroindustrial Export Industry of the Dominican Republic at the XXIII National Meeting of Leaders of the Agricultural Sector, organized by the Dominican Agrobusiness Board, Bisonó said that innovation has been an essential element for the development of more competitive economies and sustainable, capable of generating greater well-being for society as a whole.
He said that the Dominican Republic has 2.6 million hectares of land dedicated to agricultural and forestry activities, and about 20% of them are used to promote a diversity of crops.
He indicated that the Dominican agribusiness sector contributes 2.4% of total national exports. This means that for every 100 dollars exported, agribusiness generates 2.4 dollars.
However, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Pável Isa Contreras, said in a previous conference that the Dominican Republic does not have sufficient data on the national agricultural sector, which prevents it from having “good” public policies towards the sector.
“I think that reflects the importance that we as a society have given to agriculture. If we do not have data it is because we are not paying attention to agriculture and we think it is not important, and it is extremely important. Without data there is no good policy, there is no way to make robust programs if we don’t have good data,” he said.
Isa Contreras highlighted the importance of bringing rural development to the public scene to put people at the center with agricultural transformation as a means.
Limited access
Bisonó explained that by 2021, the country ranked 11th as a supplier of exports to Latin America and the Caribbean, with a total amount exported of US$11,831.53 million, thus accounting for 1% of the region’s exports.
“In our country there is a broad base of small producers and family farming systems that have limited access to modern agriculture. This confronts them with various challenges in terms of supply and demand, which are essential for their development and to be able to market their production abroad under favorable conditions,” said the MICM official.
In addition to the above, the official said that for the export segment, measures related to consumer health should be taken into account that deepen and broaden the requirements for entering the markets of developed countries such as the European Union and the United States.