Active International, the world’s largest corporate trading firm, today announced a new trade program that will enable the Instituto Agrario Dominicano (IAD), the Dominican Republic’s national agrarian organization, to trade commodities and finished products in exchange for vital equipment and services.

The IAD is an autonomous government agency formed by the Dominican Republic to improve the economic and social conditions of Dominican farmers and sustain the national agricultural economy. This is the first agreement of its kind forged between government and private enterprise in the Dominican Republic.

Under the agreement, the IAD will be able to leverage commodity and finished products such as tobacco, sugar, and cocoa to acquire equipment and services, including irrigation equipment, tractors, trucks, and energy generators, which will help to further enhance the economic base of the country.

Members of the IAD will utilize their products as a currency to purchase critical infrastructure, equipment and services through Active, drastically reducing their cash expenditure.

“By working with Active, the Dominican Republic will be able to maximize the full value of our country’s rich agricultural commodities, while giving participating businesses a financial tool to acquire equipment and services critical to the growth of our country,” said Secretary of State and Director General of the IAD, Tomas Hernandez Alberto. “The Economic Development Program provides us with a unique opportunity to take advantage of the multiple benefits of international corporate trade.”

Active and the IAD will work together to determine the value of the products, which will be used as a form of payment in lieu of currency. In turn, Active will establish a trade bank which will be utilized to purchase infrastructure, equipment and/or services based on predefined requirements.

By working with Active, the IAD has access to new sales distribution channels for products that might otherwise go unsold, distribution of goods to a global marketplace, and the use of products to purchase desired business-related products, creating additional liquidity for the business community.

“We are excited to be playing a key role in this historic agreement with the Dominican Republic,” said David Gallagher, senior vice president of international operations for Active International. “The Dominican Republic, for the first time, will be able to use their natural resources to fund economic development programs. This has significant implications to their economic growth and development.”

For example, a surplus in the global supply of tobacco may leave Dominican agricultural businesses with tobacco that they cannot sell, or would be forced to sell at a price significantly below its value. Active International would acquire the tobacco from IAD members in exchange for specified business products.

Through the IAD program, participating corporations identify infrastructure requirements, such as new trucks and tractors, which Active would exchange as payment for the tobacco. Active would then identify additional targets to resell the tobacco to around the world. The Dominican Republic is a major producer of top quality tobacco, as well as the world’s largest producer of handmade cigars.

The Dominican Republic, Central America’s leading exporter of organically-grown products including sugar cane, bananas, tobacco and potatoes, is primarily dependent on agriculture, trade, services, and tourism. Although the service sector has recently overtaken agriculture as the leading employer of Dominicans (due principally to growth in tourism, energy, telecommunications, and Free Trade Zones), agriculture remains the most important sector in terms of domestic consumption and export.

Active is in the first phase of developing programs with the Dominican government. Currently, the rate of export for the Dominican Republic is at $6.2 billion for products including textiles, sugar, coffee, ferronickel, cacao, tobacco, meats and medical supplies.

For more information, please visit www.activeinternational.com.