The Dominican Republic and Germany enjoy close and multifaceted bilateral relations.

An important link between the two countries is provided by tourism. With around 190,000 tourists per year, Germans used to be one of the largest groups of tourists. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the country managed to swiftly revive its tourism industry, so that it already now draws more tourists than prior to the pandemic.

There are some 7000 Germans living in the country, most of whom have settled either on the north coast (in Puerto Plata, Cabarete, Sosúa) or in the capital.

A bilateral friendship, trade and shipping agreement has been in place since 1957. Economic relations between the two countries have intensified since the start of the country’s economic upswing in the late 1990s, but these too have been hit by the pandemic.

There are a number of German investments in the energy sector, including one of the largest solar parks in the Caribbean near Montecristi. A German company operates this solar park in the north of the country. Germany is one of the Dominican Republic’s most important European markets for organic products (bananas, cocoa and coffee). Germany’s main exports to the Dominican Republic are vehicles and vehicle parts, machinery and chemical products.

There are some 90 German companies operating in the Dominican Republic. The German-Dominican Chamber of Commerce and Industry was set up in 1994.

German development cooperation takes the form of regional projects and focuses on climate protection and renewable energies, the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of biodiversity. Germany is one of the country’s principal donors alongside Spain, Canada and the US. In addition, Germany contributes over 20 percent of the development assistance provided by the EU, which is the Dominican Republic’s largest donor.

Although people in the country are interested in Germany, the German language and German culture, German is not a well-established subject in schools. The German Embassy has provided language courses since 1957, which in recent years have been attended on average by more than 1200 Dominicans annually.

Since 2001, a German-Dominican cultural society (Centro Domínico-Alemán) has been based in the old colonial quarter of Santo Domingo, a UNESCO World Heritage site.