YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The Dominican Republic will open an office in Yerevan as a representation of its embassy in Moscow by the end of the year. The office will make visa issuance procedures for the citizens of Armenia easier and there will be no need to send all the documents to Moscow.

Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to Armenia Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos (residence in Moscow) sees great prospects for economic cooperation between Armenia and the Dominican Republic.

He gave an interview to ARMENPRESS, touching upon a number of issues relating to the bilateral ties, particularly the possibility of the launch of a direct flight, the bilateral trade and tourism.

Possibility of direct flights  

“We identified in Armenia a number of things that we can do together. As a non-resident Ambassador you travel once or twice a year to the country to try to make some relations. But with Armenia we have identified more than normal things that we can do. We, for example, realize that many Armenians were traveling to the Dominican Republic on vacations through the flights from Moscow. And once these flights stopped from Moscow, Armenians are now very limited in my country. So we are trying to work on getting a direct flight from Dominican Republic to Armenia. We are also looking at the possibility that that flight connects to a flight to Los Angeles so that the Armenian Diaspora in Los Angeles can have an opportunity to come to Armenia via the Caribbean or Armenians in US can meet with Armenians in Armenia in the Caribbean on vacation. So we realize that we as a country have direct flights from Canada, France, Brazil, Argentina and USA, the same places where most of the Armenian Diaspora lives. So, the Dominican Republic could be a bridge between the Diaspora and Armenia in the Caribbean”, the Ambassador said.

He said that Armenia has an embassy in Brazil, in Argentina, but does not have one in the Caribbean. “So we want to become the door to the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic wants Armenia to be our door to the Caucasus and Central Asia, and Armenia to look at our country as a possible door to the Caribbean region and the Central American region”, he said.

Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos added that they are currently working on an agreement in civil aviation issues. Charter flights can start without this agreement, but as he says, they want to create the legal base so that this agreement can grow in the future.

Opening new office of Embassy of Dominican Republic in Yerevan

“We are also looking now to have an office as a representation of our Embassy in Moscow. Although I am non-resident Ambassador, but I want to have more permanent office here, to serve the Armenian interests, to be able to assist on trade issues, that is usually a door to looking at the future of possible embassy in Armenia”, he said, stating that very soon, maybe by the end of the following month, they will have an office in Armenia so that people can get their visas in Armenia and do not have to send their passports to Moscow.

He said that the diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 2007, the two states have cooperated in the multilateral arena in many areas in United Nations, but it has not been very active relation until ambassadors were appointed by both sides.

“This new government in my country, that is two years now, decided to diversify their diplomatic relations and make the ones that were already signed, to make it work. They have assigned an ambassador in Moscow, we have received your ambassador in Canada. And now we are looking at how to expand that relation. The first step is usually appointing an ambassador, whether it is resident or non-resident, then there are possibilities of having honorary consuls in each country. And then start to work directly with the government officials in Armenia so that we could have the judicial, the legal background to have more and more relations”, he said. “Now we have to create a legal framework that this relation can continue working and giving positive fruits to the bilateral. This will establish the conditions for just increasing the level of our relations and hopefully in the future we can have a resident embassy in Armenia”, he added.

Armenia’s TUMO under spotlight of Dominican Republic

The Dominican government has also identified the TUMO project that exists in Armenia. “It is a very interesting project that can be repeated in our region. We want to make this Armenian project in the Caribbean.

You are also developing IT technology. We are also becoming an IT hub in the Caribbean. Maybe your companies and our companies can work together. I mean this is all the areas that we need to explore. TUMO could be the base for many of this cooperation. We are very impressed with what you have done with TUMO, and we want to replicate this program in the Caribbean. Through there we can open a lot of opportunities in the IT sector”, he stated.

From Armenian cognac to Dominican cigar: economic relations, bilateral trade

“We see that Armenia’s economy has become very dynamic. Our economy, the Caribbean, is also very dynamic. We have very synergies and similarities between the two countries. We want Armenia to be our partner in the Caucasus, and we want us to be the partner of Armenia in the Caribbean. We want to promote your wines, your cognac, and through us extend them to Central America and the Caribbean, and we hope to do the same with our cigars, our rum, our coffee and our fruits.

We have the Dominican cigars which are well famous, very popular here. We have some Armenians who have brands of cigars made in the Dominican Republic. It goes very well with cognac which is one of your biggest products. Your wine quality is amazing. I have tested some wine recently from Armenia, and I think there is a possibility of selling Armenian wines in the Dominican Republic. And as I said we are part of the free trade agreement with Central America, with the Caribbean, and your wines can enter into other markets through us, we are one of the biggest markets in that area”, the Ambassador said.

Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos stated that his country is looking at Armenia very closely not only for establishing tourism relations, but also making Armenia a door for Dominican products. For example, they sell a lot of Dominican rum, cigars, but also Avocado, mango, pineapples and lot of exotic fruits.

“We already met some of businessmen in Armenia where they are looking at buying our products which were very popular in Russia before the special military operation. But now they are very limited how they can get to Russia because there are no longer direct flights. If we get this direct flight to Armenia, maybe our products can come to Armenia or other countries, even also in Georgia. So, we believe that Armenia is an important door towards this region”, he said.

Tourism, possibility of free visa regime

“We are receiving Armenian tourists for some years. We want to increase the number of tourists, we want to facilitate the entrance of tourists by either eliminating visa or reducing all the paperwork to make it easier for them”, he stated.

He said that he, as an Ambassador, is already promoting Armenia into the Dominican Republic tour operators, they are trying to prepare packages, and according to him, at the end of September or early October some Dominican tour operators are expected to visit Armenia to promote the destination in the Dominican Republic.

“We are also Christians, so we have a lot of interests for Christian values and heritage, and Christian history in Armenia. And now, when a lot of tourists, who used to go to Russia, cannot go because of the expenses, Armenia is a good opportunity. For Armenians, you have going to the Dominican Republic for a while, the numbers are not very big because of the requirement of visa. I believe that once we eliminate that, it would be easier for Armenians to go on vacation to the Caribbean, to enjoy our beaches, our mountains and our sports, hotels. And I also think, as I said in the beginning, the Dominican Republic can become a connecting point with the Diaspora because we have also direct flights from Canada, US, Brazil and we can become an interesting point of connection between the Diaspora, they maybe cannot afford a trip all the way to Armenia, and Armenians, who do not have a visa or the possibility to fly all the way where their families are, they can meet in the middle, they can meet in the Dominican Republic to enjoy their vacation, enjoy our food, our sun and beaches”, he stated.

According to the Ambassador Armenia and the Dominican Republic have a very similar population, a very similar culture. “I see Armenians and I feel I see the Dominicans. I say “you are the Latinos of the Caucasus”, the Latin Americans of the Caucasus. You are very similar to us in many ways, in our family values, in the way we like to dance, we like to eat, we like to enjoy and be good friends, I think that unites us in many ways”, he concluded.

Interview by Anna Grigoryan

Photos by Tatev Duryan