Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – The Dominican Republic is preparing to showcase a diverse portfolio of investment and trade opportunities to the United Kingdom business community during the 12th edition of Dominican Week in the UK, scheduled for November 1 to 5, 2026. While the Caribbean nation has long been a recognized global leader in international tourism, this upcoming event will extend far beyond that sector, highlighting emerging and growing opportunities across clean energy, advanced manufacturing, tech development, agricultural exports and more.
Organized collaboratively by the British Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (BritChamDR), the Dominican Embassy in the UK, and the British Embassy in Santo Domingo, the 5-day event will convene senior government officials, leading business representatives and key institutional stakeholders from both nations. The core objectives of the gathering are to attract new foreign direct investment to the Dominican Republic, strengthen existing bilateral trade ties, and identify untapped areas for cross-border cooperation between the two countries.
A high-profile lineup of speakers and participants has been confirmed for the event, including Ryan Polanco, President of BritChamDR; Carolina Mejía, Mayor of the Dominican Republic’s National District; Vladimir Camilo Pimentel Florenzán, Executive Director of ProDominicana (the Dominican Republic’s investment and export promotion agency); and Francisco A. Caraballo Núñez, Vice Minister for Bilateral Foreign Policy at the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Representing the UK government will be Uma Kumaran, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Overseas Territories, the Caribbean and Global Technology, while the Dominican Republic’s diplomatic delegation will be led by Rosa Hernández de Grullón, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic to the United Kingdom. Additional participants will include senior representatives from leading Dominican public and private entities such as ProDominicana, Banco Popular Dominicano, the Ministry of Tourism, Inicia and Grupo Estrella, alongside a wide range of UK-based public and private sector stakeholders.
Over the course of the five-day agenda, attendees will explore multiple high-growth areas for investment and partnership. A top priority is unlocking capital for clean energy and sustainability projects in the Dominican Republic, while also highlighting the country’s competitive advantages for advanced manufacturing and nearshoring operations seeking proximity to North American and European markets. Discussions will also center on forging new cooperative partnerships between UK universities and Dominican institutions in the strategic technology sectors of artificial intelligence and semiconductor development, areas that the Dominican government has identified as critical to building the country’s long-term technological and productive capacity.
Expanding Dominican agro-exports to the UK market will be another key focus of talks, with participants set to examine the growing commercial opportunities created by the UK-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement, a trade deal that the Dominican Republic benefits from as a member of CARIFORUM. While tourism will retain a prominent place in the event agenda – aligned with the country’s core strengths in this sector – it will be framed as part of a broader diversified economic offering. On November 4, the Dominican Ministry of Tourism will host a dedicated promotional event for UK tour operators and travel agencies, coinciding with the 2026 World Travel Market (WTM) London, one of the world’s largest and most influential travel industry trade shows, which runs from November 3 to 5 at ExCeL London. This alignment will allow the Dominican Republic to showcase its world-class tourism product to a global audience of industry buyers and stakeholders, while also presenting a broader narrative of the country as a competitive platform for international investment, production and cross-border trade.
The 12th Dominican Week will conclude on November 5 with the traditional “Cigar and Rum Night” hosted at the Dominican Embassy in London, bringing the formal business and institutional agenda to a close. Organizers note that this year’s edition continues the event’s evolution into a permanent, high-impact platform for connecting public and private sector leaders from both nations, with the long-term goal of firmly positioning the Dominican Republic in the UK as a reliable, forward-thinking trade and investment partner that delivers tangible opportunities across tourism, energy, technology, manufacturing and agricultural exports.