From Punta Cana, WGS LAC Establishes the Dominican Republic as a Strategic Bridge Between the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Arab Gulf
The inaugural World Government Summit – Latin America and the Caribbean (WGS LAC), held on October 2–3, 2025, in Punta Cana, marked a historic milestone: for the first time, a World Government Summit event took place outside Dubai. This decision underscores the confidence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Dominican Republic and solidifies the country’s position as a key regional platform for dialogue on innovation, governance, and sustainable development.
WGS-LAC: A High-Level Strategic Dialogue
The WGS-LAC Dialogue brought together, by exclusive invitation, government leaders, business executives, technology experts, philanthropists, and academics from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa).
Through roundtables and panels focused on South-South innovation, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and sustainability, the event fostered an exchange of experiences between two dynamic and complementary regions.
Beyond strengthening public-private cooperation, the forum facilitated strategic partnerships and agreements aimed at delivering tangible outcomes, facilitating a framework for regional coordination to enhance GRULAC’s (Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries) active participation in WGS Dubai 2026. This dialogue paves the way for shared investment proposals and consolidates structured engagement between Gulf countries and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Dominican Republic: Stability, Trust, and Investment
Hosting WGS-LAC reaffirms the Dominican Republic’s political stability, institutional continuity, and economic strength—one of the fastest-growing economies in Latin America over the past five decades.
Today, the nation ranks as the seventh-largest economy in GRULAC, a leader in tourism, and boasts growing productive diversification in services, free trade zones, light manufacturing, mining, and renewable energy.
A cornerstone of this global positioning is its logistical infrastructure, driven by strategic investments such as DP World’s recently announced $760 million expansion of the Caucedo Multimodal Port, the largest and most modern in the Caribbean. This expansion will transform Caucedo into one of the Western Hemisphere’s primary container transshipment hubs, with the capacity to handle over 3 million TEUs annually and directly connect trade routes across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
Combined with an extensive network of free trade agreements and preferential access to markets in the United States, the European Union, CARICOM, and other regions, the port reinforces the Dominican Republic’s role as a facilitator of regional and global trade and a strategic hub for nearshoring and the relocation of global value chains.
Meta RD 2036: A Vision for Development in One Generation
At the core of this vision lies Meta RD 2036, a national roadmap aimed at doubling the Dominican Republic’s GDP and transforming it into a developed nation by 2036.
The plan integrates investments in human capital, digital transformation, energy transition, educational reform, sustainable infrastructure, and government efficiency. It is a commitment to a comprehensive development model underpinned by political and institutional consensus.
The goal is ambitious yet achievable. The United Arab Emirates has demonstrated that transforming a nation in a single generation is possible, evolving from an oil-dependent economy to a global leader in innovation, logistics, tourism, and education.
Inspired by this model, the Dominican Republic is advancing through its participation in the UAE Prime Minister’s Office Government Experience Exchange Programme (GEEP), which promotes the transfer of institutional knowledge in planning, efficiency, and sustainable development.
This framework provides a clear and stable roadmap for attracting secure, long-term investments.
A Shared Path to the Future
Cooperation between the Dominican Republic and the United Arab Emirates in areas such as digitalization, higher education, renewable energy, logistics, and emerging technologies strengthens the pillars of the Dominican Republic’s new development model.
Guided by the vision of Meta RD 2036 and the transformative spirit of the GEEP, both nations share a common purpose: to demonstrate that prosperity, stability, and innovation can be achieved in a single generation through vision, planning, and commitment.
The Dominican Republic is thus advancing toward fulfilling its foundational dream: to become a prosperous, just, and modern nation—a model of transformation, cooperation, and leadership in the hemisphere, and a strategic bridge between Latin America and the Arab world.
This article was written by H.E. Renso Herrera Franco, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United Arab Emirates.
H.E. Renso Herrera Franco is a distinguished Dominican diplomat with more than three decades of experience in international relations and project management. With a strong academic background that includes a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ottawa and a specialization in International Law from the University of Costa Rica, he has held key roles in various diplomatic missions.
Today, he serves as the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United Arab Emirates, a position he has held since 2023.
Throughout his career, Herrera Franco has been recognized for his ability to negotiate bilateral and multilateral agreements, as well as for his leadership in coordinating regional cooperation projects. His achievements include the creation of the CARIFORUM Secretariat to manage cooperation funds in the Caribbean and his contribution to the establishment of the HOPE program, which facilitates textile exports to Canada. His career reflects a strong commitment to strengthening international relations and promoting the economic development of the Dominican Republic.
