Following two days of high-level diplomatic talks in the Dominican Republic’s capital of Santo Domingo, presidents Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic and Nasry Asfura of Honduras have announced a shared commitment to expanding and strengthening collaborative ties between their two nations.
The closed-door and public discussions, held at the Dominican National Palace, covered a wide spectrum of priority areas for mutual benefit. The leaders zeroed in on untapped opportunities to grow cross-border trade volumes, attract new bilateral investment, upgrade transportation and digital connectivity, boost two-way tourism flows, deepen cultural exchanges, and advance sustainable cooperation in the agricultural sector.
Beyond bilateral priorities, the pair also tackled pressing shared regional challenges that impact the entire Central American and Caribbean basin. Key topics on the regional agenda included coordinated public security strategies, responses to irregular migration patterns, collective defense of democratic institutions, management of invasive sargassum blooms that threaten coastal ecosystems, and the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in neighboring Haiti.
In remarks after the meetings, Abinader pointed to the steady upward trajectory of trade between the two nations as a strong foundation for future growth. He also highlighted the existing productive intelligence-sharing cooperation that both countries carry out under the Shield of the Americas framework, a regional initiative focused on dismantling transnational organized criminal networks.
For his part, Asfura lauded the Dominican Republic’s decades-long expertise in developing a world-class tourism sector, which has become a cornerstone of the country’s national economy. He also specifically praised the Dominican Republic’s successful delivery of the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, noting that his country would draw on that experience as it prepares to host the next edition of the multi-sport event in 2029. Asfura extended a formal note of gratitude to the Dominican government and people for the ongoing support Honduras has received ahead of its turn as host.
By the end of the official visit, both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to sustaining open, regular high-level dialogue to translate their broadly aligned political positions into tangible, actionable cooperation projects that deliver benefits to the citizens of both countries. Asfura closed the visit by formally inviting Abinader to undertake an official return visit to Honduras in the coming months to continue advancing the bilateral agenda.