The Dominican Republic hosted the inauguration of President Luis Abinader, who was re-elected for a new term. Ukraine was represented at the inauguration by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine. This is the first visit of a Ukrainian delegation to the Dominican Republic in the last 22 years.

‘The Dominican Republic is a reliable partner of Ukraine and the invitation to the inauguration of President Luis Abinader is the greatest confirmation of this. Even in his inaugural speech, the President mentioned Ukraine and the fact that the values of peace are fundamental to him. That's why he had supported the first Global Peace Summit, and why he has been systematically supporting Ukraine with his policy,’ said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

According to her, on the eve of the inauguration, during a meeting with Vice President of the Dominican Republic Raquel Peña Rodríguez, the Ukrainian delegation received assurances that the Dominican Republic had the potential to become a logistics centre for Ukrainian exports to the region. The country is the second largest in the region in terms of imports from Ukraine. Last year, the trade turnover between our countries reached USD 38.73 million, which is 54% of the total. This is 54% of the 2022 figure. The positive balance for Ukraine was USD 21.07 million. And in the first 6 months of 2024, exports have already totalled USD 32 million.

Ukraine and the Dominican Republic have agreed to establish cooperation at the level of Chambers of Commerce and Industry to further hold business forums and strengthen bilateral trade. In addition, Yuliia Svyrydenko thanked the Dominican Republic for participating in the first Global Peace Summit and invited it to join the working groups on such points of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula as food security and nuclear safety.

This is Luis Abinader's second term in office. He was elected in 2020 from the Modern Revolutionary Party and re-elected for a second term in the general election in May this year. His presidential term will last until August 2028.

The inauguration was attended by 14 heads of state and government and several hundred representatives of partner countries. On the sidelines of the event, Yuliia Svyrydenko also met with President of Guatemala Bernardo Arévalo, President of Suriname Chan Santokhi, Prime Minister of Belize Johnny Briceño, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica Arnoldo André Tinoco.

According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, systematic cooperation with Latin American and Caribbean countries yields systematic results. Thus, following a working visit of the Ukrainian delegation to Latin America in May, Argentina became a member of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. As stated in the First Deputy Prime Minister's of Ukraine column for Interfax, active work is underway to organise a Ukraine-Latin America Summit.