On September 9–10, Santo Domingo hosted the seventh HUB Cámara Santo Domingo 2026 forum, one of the most important business events in the Dominican Republic, bringing together representatives of national and international business, government agencies, and potential foreign buyers.
The forum was organized by the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and Production (Cámara de Comercio y Producción de Santo Domingo) jointly with ProDominicana (the Dominican Republic’s state center for export promotion and foreign investment attraction) and took place with the active support and participation of the Government of the Dominican Republic.
The opening ceremony was attended by President Luis Abinader, as well as a number of government ministers of the Dominican Republic, emphasizing the strategic importance of the forum for the country’s economic policy.
An important continuation of this state strategy was the speech by Eduardo Sanz Lovatón, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MICM), who presented the new state initiative “Empresas en 24 Horas” (Companies in 24 Hours)—a digital platform that integrates the main procedures for establishing and registering a company, allowing the business formalization process to be completed within 24 hours. The launch of this system is a major step toward the digitalization of public services, the reduction of bureaucratic procedures, and the creation of a more favorable environment for entrepreneurs and investors.
Additionally, Daniel Peña Fernández, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade of MICM, highlighted the importance of HUB Cámara Santo Domingo in strengthening the Dominican Republic’s position as a center of business activity in the Caribbean region and a space for interaction between the public and private sectors and the international business community.
The HUB Cámara Santo Domingo 2026 forum demonstrated a high level of organization and became an effective platform for establishing business contacts, holding B2B meetings, exploring new markets, and forming international commercial partnerships. The event was attended by representatives of Dominican companies and international businesses. According to the organizers, the participation of 139 international buyer companies was confirmed, and the total number of potential buyers was expected to exceed 150. Such a scale indicates the Dominican Republic’s aspiration to strengthen its position as an attractive platform for international trade and investment.
Ukraine was represented at the forum by the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Dominican Republic, represented by its official representative, Stella Kurhaieva. The participation of the Ukrainian side focused on developing bilateral trade and economic ties, searching for new opportunities for Ukrainian exports, and establishing direct contacts with representatives of Dominican and international businesses.
Amid the search for new export destinations and the diversification of international trade, the Dominican Republic is gaining strategic importance not only as a promising sales market, but also as a potential trade and logistics hub for promoting Ukrainian goods to Caribbean countries. The country’s geographical location, transport capabilities, developed trade relations, and active policy to attract international business create the prerequisites for establishing a new route for Ukrainian producers to enter Caribbean markets.
In this context, it is no longer just about direct supplies of Ukrainian products to the Dominican Republic. A promising direction could be the construction of a broader model of regional presence, where the Dominican Republic would act as one of the key entry points for Ukrainian goods into the Caribbean basin. For Ukrainian business, this opens up opportunities for the development of food and agro-industrial exports, processed goods, equipment, technologies, IT solutions, products for the hotel and restaurant sectors, and other categories competitive on the international market.
Participation in the forum was also an important opportunity to establish and strengthen institutional ties between the Ukrainian side and key state and export institutions of the Dominican Republic. In particular, direct contacts were established with Eduardo Sanz Lovatón, Minister of Industry, Commerce and SMEs; Daniel Peña Fernández, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade; Vladimir Pimentel, Executive Director of ProDominicana; Segismundo Mori, Export Director of ProDominicana; and Johannes Kelner, Executive Director of the National Council of Export Free Zones of the Dominican Republic (CNZFE).
As well as with Roderick Middelhof, Minister of Economic Development of Curaçao, which opens up opportunities for the further development of official economic ties and the deepening of bilateral interaction with Curaçao. Such ties allow for the gradual formation of a broader network of partnerships, viewing the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean territories not in isolation, but as elements of a single space for the development of trade and investment cooperation.
An additional advantage is that Caribbean countries are united in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). In turn, the Dominican Republic has a Free Trade Area Agreement with CARICOM, signed on August 22, 1998, which creates a legal framework for simplifying and expanding trade and economic ties between the parties.
Today, international trade requires companies to do much more than simply have a sought-after product. Successful entry into new markets requires stable production facilities, compliance with international standards and certification requirements, reliable logistics, an understanding of the specifics of a specific market, the ability to ensure long-term supplies, and a predictable political and geopolitical environment. In the context of growing global geopolitical risks, regions capable of providing relatively stable conditions for trade, investment, and logistics are gaining special importance.
That is why the significance of such international platforms as HUB Cámara Santo Domingo goes far beyond holding individual business meetings.
For Ukraine, participation in such events becomes part of a broader strategy of economic diplomacy and the promotion of national business. Establishing direct contacts with Dominican and Caribbean entrepreneurs, studying the export potential of the region, and forming new communication channels lay the foundation for future trade projects.
HUB Cámara Santo Domingo 2026 became an important step in this direction. The high level of organization of the forum, the participation of the government of the Dominican Republic and international business representatives demonstrated that the country is consistently strengthening its role in the regional economy. For Ukraine, this means the emergence of new opportunities not only for entering the market of the Dominican Republic, but also for establishing a long-term presence of Ukrainian business in the Caribbean region. Ultimately, the task is not just to find a new buyer for Ukrainian products. It is much more important to create a sustainable system of economic ties in which the Dominican Republic can become a strategic partner and a kind of chain between the Ukrainian producer and the markets of the Caribbean basin.
Prepared with the support of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, specially for Business Women. Representative of the CCI of Ukraine in the Dominican Republic, Stella Kurhaieva.
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Author: Stella Kurgaeva
Photo: from the author’s archive