A group of Haitian and Dominican Business Supporting Organizations, led by  Chambre du Commerce et d’industrie d’ Haïti (Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haiti) and the Federación Dominicana de Cámaras de Comercio-FEDOCAMARAS (Dominican Federation of Chambers of Commerce) strengthened collaboration ties through their joint participation in a Best Practices Mission to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This mission was coordinated by Caribbean Export as part of its Private Sector Dialogue Work Plan stemming out of the implementation of the Trade and Private Sector Component of the Haiti-Dominican Republic Binational Cooperation Program, financed by the European Union under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF).

The delegation was comprised by Chambre du Commerce et d’Industrie d’Haïti-CCIH (Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haiti), Association Des Industries d’Haïti-ADIH (Association of Industries of Haiti), the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti-AmCham Haiti and the Chambre de Conciliation et d’Arbitrage d’Haiti-CCAH (Chamber of Conciliation and Arbitration of Haiti),  Federación Dominicana de Cámaras de Comercio-FEDOCAMARAS (Dominican Federation of Chambers of Commerce), Cámara de Comercio y Producción de Santo Domingo-CCPSD (Chamber of Commerce and Production of Santo Domingo), Asociación Dominicana de Exportadores-ADOEXPO (Dominican Exporters’ Association) and the Centro de Resolución Alternativa de Controversias de la República Dominicana-CRC (Dominican Republic’s Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution).

Argentina has a long track record of supporting export of its services industry in a worldwide scale, namely in the innovation and technology sector. Such is the case that Argentina has eleven (11) companies that are considered unicorns (valued at over USD$1 billion). Moreover, Argentina has had to overcome major challenges in the political and social realm that have greatly affected private sector development and overall trade.  In this context, Caribbean Export organized this mission to enable r Haitian and Dominican BSOs to discuss what operational and policy frameworks were put in place to support Argentina’s private sector; along with the challenges that were faced and the best practices of what worked.

During the mission, the delegation was able to engage and share best practices with the Cámara Argentina de Comercio y Servicios-CAC (Chamber of Commerce and Services of Argentina), which served as the primary host for this mission, along other private sector support institutions. These exchanges allowed participating BSOs to learn about the services provided by their counterparts in Argentina and improve their technical capacity to support the country’s business development with the appropriate tools to improve their management. In addition, the delegation was able to engage with the Cámara Argentina de Comercio Electrónico-CACE (Digital Chamber of Commerce of Argentina), allowing the acquisition of knowledge about the electronic commerce program (experience and training) implemented by after the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of the private exporting sector.

With this activity, the participating chambers of commerce will be able to increase the quantity and quality of the services offered to their members and improve their long-term sustainability, while strengthening their collective interinstitutional cooperation ties across the border and the overall binational private sector.