"You are not completely exploiting the quality of the products you have. You are well known for exporting many good baseball players, a lot of tobacco, and much rum, but you are not looking for the same recognition for products like pineapple and avocado, which are two products that have a very good quality," Brian Rudert said about Dominican agricultural exports.
Rudert is the general director of the "Exporting Quality and Safety" programme, which represents the various players involved in the value chain of cocoa, avocado, pineapple, oriental vegetables, and greenhouse vegetables, to help them improve the productivity, quality, and the safety of their crops so that they can increase exports.
In 2015, the Dominican Republic exported about 33,223 tons, equivalent to about 34.2 million dollars of the category that includes dates, figs, pineapples, avocados, guavas, mangoes, and mangosteens; according to statistics from the International Trade Centre (ITC).
According to the ITC, thanks to this value the country ranks as the No. 34 exporter worldwide in this product category, accounting for only 0.4% of global exports. According to Rudert, there is much demand for these products in the international markets but the domestic production levels are low. "There are opportunities. The main problem is how to produce more, there isn't enough production," he said.
To increase the production of pineapple and avocado in the country, he said, the players in the value chain must be organised. However, he stressed, they should not expect the Government to give them the tools to do this. They must do it by their own means.
He also noted that other countries had used production models that could be replicated in the Dominican Republic. "The role of the government is important, but we should not rely solely on that," he said.
Rudert made these statements at the "Leading Women and Export Trade" conference that was held on Thursday as part of the initiatives being undertaken by the programme he runs.
The meeting was attended by Patrick Dunn, the charge d'affaires of the US Embassy, who highlighted the participation of women in export companies.
Source: elveedordigital.com