Drapeau de la République dominicaine

Dominican Republic

Political and Economic relations

Date of update: March 25th 2026 Information still valid as of today's date

Political relations

Bilateral relations with the Dominican Republic have picked up since President Medina’s re-election in May 2016 (see below), with the most recent discussions taking place on 12 December 2017 during the visit of the Dominican Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources for the One Planet Summit.

Economic relations

After several years of growth, bilateral trade fell 11.6% in 2018 to total €261.4 million. France has a trade deficit with the Dominican Republic that stood at €24.4 million in 2018. France’s economic presence in the country is built more on the presence of major French companies there and occasional large contracts than on stable trade.

The Dominican Republic is France’s leading trading partner in the Caribbean, and its second-largest customer, behind Cuba. Trade with the French Communities of the Americas is growing, but still remains low (€13.3 million in 2018).

Our economic relations have developed considerably thanks to large-scale operations in the early 2000s. Orange, which acquired a local telecommunications operator in 2000, has, however, sold its stake to the Luxembourg fund Altice. The participation of French companies (Alstom, Thalès, CIM/TSO) in the construction of Santo Domingo’s first metro line in record time, from 2007 to 2009, and then of the second, showcased the expertise of our companies. Our businesses are also interested in restoring the sanitation system in several cities. Poma built the first cable-car line in Santo Domingo, which opened on 22 May 2018. In addition, Vinci has been awarded the concession and management of six of the country’s nine international airports (Aerodom). Total has a sales subsidiary for the distribution of lubricants, and a network of 130 service stations around the country.

More than 140 French companies are working in the Dominican Republic. French investments mainly concern retail (Carrefour), tourism, industry (Air Liquide, Arcelor-Mittal), transport (Air France, Air Caraïbes, XL Airways and French Blue), infrastructure (Alstom, Thalès, CIM/TSO, Poma), energy (Schneider, Legrand), pharmaceuticals (Sanofi Aventis) and real estate.

With loans totalling US$590.3 million, including US$475.1 million granted by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), France is the Dominican Republic’s largest bilateral creditor, ahead of Brazil (US$489.6 million) and Spain (US$435.2 million).

List of French representations

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