EY Law sets up shop in the Dominican Republic

EY Law, the law firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited, has opened an office in the Dominican Republic, a general practice offering a broad array of services, bolstering the firm’s regional presence.

Attorney Thania Gomez and a team of four attorneys make up the firm’s office in Santo Domingo, and which is in operation since 1 November.

The office provides services covering corporate, labor and immigration, M&A, banking and finance, securities, real estate and hospitality, environmental, dispute resolution, projects, government procurement, natural resources, energy, telecommunications and trade and customs.

The Dominican Republic expects to see an increase in direct foreign investment in the near term, particularly from China, with which the Caribbean nation established diplomatic ties earlier this year, abandoning its links to Taiwan.

The Dominican Republic’s President Danilo Medina visited Beijing at the beginning of this month and met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

“The Dominican Republic hopes to promote cooperation with China under the Belt and Road Initiative, in such areas as trade, infrastructure construction, energy, electricity and tourism,” Medina said during his visit.

“The establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries has given China a good partner with mutual respect, equal treatment and mutually-beneficial cooperation,” President Xi said.

The visit coincided with the opening of the Dominican Republic’s embassy in Beijing.

During the embassy’s official inauguration, Dominican Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas said that by opening the new embassy, the two countries were “opening a very relevant chapter in the international relations of the Dominican Republic”.