Diplomatic relations between Ecuador and the Dominican Republic entered a new phase of collaboration this Monday, as the two nations’ top foreign affairs leaders gathered in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo to advance shared goals across multiple critical sectors. Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld and her Dominican counterpart Roberto Álvarez led the closed-door negotiations, which centered on deepening cooperation in trade, cross-border investment, tourism, energy, migration management, and technical knowledge sharing.
At the top of the meeting’s agenda was progress toward a new Partial Scope Trade Agreement, a framework designed to break down existing trade barriers, deepen regional economic integration, and unlock new commercial opportunities for businesses in both countries. Both ministers underlined that advancing negotiations for this agreement is a top near-term priority, noting that expanded bilateral trade will drive job creation and economic growth on both sides. Beyond the core trade deal, the pair also agreed to launch new joint initiatives focused on developing free trade zones, attracting mutually beneficial foreign investment, and facilitating closer partnerships between private sector business groups from the two nations. They also celebrated existing progress in tourism cooperation, pointing to the 2025 gastronomic diplomacy agreement as a successful model for people-to-people exchange that has boosted cultural understanding and visitor numbers for both countries.
Beyond bilateral issues, the two foreign ministers turned their attention to pressing regional and global challenges, most notably the ongoing security and humanitarian crisis in neighboring Haiti. In a joint statement of principle, the leaders called on the full international community to ramp up coordinated efforts to help Haiti restore lasting security and political stability, addressing the violence and instability that has spilled across regional borders in recent years.
In the energy sector, the two nations reaffirmed their existing institutional cooperation between Ecuador’s state oil firm EP PETROECUADOR and the Dominican Republic’s state refinery REFIDOMSA. A key topic of discussion was the potential for new Dominican investment in Ecuador’s developing “Amistad” natural gas field, a project that could deliver long-term energy security benefits for both countries.
The meeting also wrapped up with commitments to expand collaboration across a range of other priority areas, including public health programming, digital transformation initiatives, orderly migration management, and cross-border security cooperation. Both leaders reaffirmed their ongoing commitment to expanding bilateral technical assistance programs and strengthening regular political dialogue mechanisms to address emerging challenges and seize new collaborative opportunities in the years ahead.