Caribbean Review: How the Summit of The Americas Could Shape The Dominican Republic's Future
FELIX CORONA
Introduction
The Dominican Republic (DR) is one of the most visited countries within the Caribbean, with tourism booming and set to scale again by the end of this year. 2026 is an especially exciting year for DR, as they are set to host the 10th Summit of the Americas conference in which leaders from the Western Hemisphere discuss regional democracy, cooperation and development. Many participating countries visiting are also known for tourism, posing an opportunity for the DR to adopt strategies to support their own industry even more.
What Is The Summit Of The Americas
The Summit of the Americas conference started in 1994 in Miami, with the aims of strengthening the Western Hemisphere, and promoting democracy and free trade. The Organization of American States (OAS) promoted the importance of the region having stronger inter-American cooperation. The institution (OAS) specialized in forging strategies to gather experiences and mandate decisions that were within the collective interest of each region, making the organisation almost a regulator of motions within the summit of the Americas. Countries are invited from across North America, South America, and the Caribbean, including the United States, Venezuela, Mexico, Saint Lucia just to name a few.
In 1998 the secretary general (of OAS) followed up with an additional organisation associated with the Summit of the Americas called the Office of Summit Follow-up (OSFU). The organisation was given a mandate as a technical secretary to support the chair of the summit to ensure that there were mandatory follow up with all motions issued within the Summit of the Americas.
In 2009, the Summit of the Americas was held in Trinidad and Tobago. The aims set there were to improve energy security and environmental sustainability and promote human prosperity. Before in other summits it had only been proposed for short- term projects. This was the first project that set a new tone for the organisation since 1994, as long- term projects were proposed to be implemented.
During COVID-19, the Summit of Americas aided with circulating communications throughout participating nations to support their pandemic recovery. This summit was held in 2022 in Los Angeles. Five documents with health regulations and mandates were shared to support countries in coordinated relief measures.
The Summit of the Americas seems to be a friendly organization amongst allies within the Western Hemisphere to coordinate strategies and offer support and legislation that strengthens participating nations and their diplomatic relations. Therefore, it is evident that even in times of crisis (for example, COVID-19) this organisation shared relief strategies and offering support to all nations involved
How The Dominican Republic Could Use This Opportunity
Since the pandemic and summit following in 2022, it has been highlighted that there has been a shift in the role of the Summit of the Americas to look towards forging alliances that can work on long term projects that would allow long-term collaboration efforts across different industries. Recently, the Dominican Republic has looked towards wanting to expand their trade logistics. The DR has a strategy, funded by the United States, of $100M dollars to improve warehouse infrastructure within the region, aiming to expand trade capacity. This comes amid the DR emerging as a hub for handling trade within the Americas. DR currently has plans that will expand trade further by 2030 thus, if the 2026 summit proves to be a success, attracting future investors and trade partners would be an ideal outcome for the country.
Areas for improvement claimed by DR officials is energy security, especially working towards strengthening electrical systems to support economic growth. Regional cooperation could help DR find partners versed in technical support. The region could use such collaboration to accelerate domestic strategies and hopefully garner more institutional funding.
Finally, this summit could position the Dominican Republic as the Caribbean’s leading logistics, tourism and business hub, securing partnerships that advance the nation’s 2030 National Development Strategy. Many Dominican politicians emphasize concerns regarding security, energy, water and economic competitiveness amongst surrounding nations that overlaps with plans already in place. Ultimately, these circumstances make the summit a massive opportunity for the hosting country.
Is Caution Needed?
As much as it is a fantastic opportunity for the DR to hold the Summit of the Americas, there always needs to be an acknowledgement of potential downsides. Many nations apart of the summit of Americas have already begun talks with neighbors on how to improve their economy; caution may be worthwhile in evaluating how decisions impact the locals who reside on the island.
Regional collaborations and conferences have long prompted caution proposed in collaborating regionally with different countries as residents may not benefit from decisions made by officials. This has been seen recently in Albania when Ivanka Trump has wanted to build on a wildlife reserve a luxury resort, which has led to continuous on-going protests from the nation’s people as they do not approve of this deal. Another example can be seen in Jamaica, where their partnership with the U.S have dominated headlines whilst many victims of Hurricane Melissa are still without aid.
Infrastructure projects are a prime example of collaborations to look out for, as land acquisition tends to be a large factor in improving infrastructure especially with ports, logistic centers, highways, and tourism development. Without proper consultation and compensation, local communities could become displaced. With local support and consultation, however, this exciting opportunity could be great for DR.