Dominican Republic woos Indian film producers

Dominican Republic is seeking to woo Indian investment in IT and film producers to shoot in the Caribbean nation's picturesque locales.

As a measure of its growing interest in India, it is even planning to open an embassy here.

The republic's foreign minister, Carlos Morales Troncoso, will be here for a week from Thursday in the first high-level visit from the tiny nation of nine million that bridges the Caribbean and Central American regions.

Troncoso will meet Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and discuss bilateral ties. An agreement on bilateral cooperation will be signed between the two ministers, an external affairs ministry release said.

A 25-member delegation including the education and IT ministers, as also a 10-member business delegation, will accompany Troncoso.

The delegation will visit also Bangalore and Hyderabad for meetings with Indian industrialists.

"There is scope for significant increase in the bilateral trade," the ministry release said. India's exports to Dominican Republic in 2004-2005 stood at $20 million while imports amounted to $2 million.