Expo Alemana in the Dominican Republic

Expo Alemana took place at the Botanical Garden in Santo Domingo at the end of March. German companies had an opportunity to present concepts and solutions for environmental protection and renewable energy at the fair that was organised by the German-Dominican Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Chamber of Foreign Trade), BioTropic reports.

The Dominican branch of BioTropic was represented by its employees (see pictures). In addition, the chief executive of the the Duisburg firm, Sascha Suler, also travelled there. The project "Building up sales opportunities for locally-grown organic produce in the domestic market" was presented.
 

Currently, the bulk of the organic produce grown in the country is exported. The lack of purchasing power and the high cost of obtaining organic certification hinder the growth of sales of organics. To increase domestic consumption, BioTropic plans to have an organic fruit and vegetable stand in the business metropolis Santiago de los Caballeros and is already in contact with regional fruit and vegetable growers as well as with officials.

The Cibao Ecological Centre is currently being established on the site of the Dominican BioTropic office and it will be opening its doors soon. Conceived for research and development purposes, the centre is designed to become an active building block in raising public environmental awareness in the region. The intention is that organic fruit and vegetables grown there are likewise to be sold in the local market in Santiago de los Caballeros. More information is available here.