The Dominican Republic is usually thought of as a tropical holiday getaway, replete with white sand beaches and crystal blue Caribbean waters. Less known is that this Caribbean paradise is fast becoming a manufacturing platform and launching pad for exports to the United States.

Although the island nation is famous for rum and cigars, it is now the second-largest supplier of circuit breakers in the U.S. and the fifth-largest supplier of medical devices in Latin America.

Though China began its aggressive push into the region years ago, South Korean investors are just starting to take notice of opportunities in the Dominican Republic.

Jose del Castillo Savinon, the Dominican minister of Industry and Commerce, was in South Korea for three days on the first leg of a two-nation Asia trip. He went to Taiwan Wednesday.

“Our regional leadership can be found as well in the services subsector, according to ‘The Caribbean and Central America Contac Center/BPO Report 2012,’” said Del Castillo during an investment forum in Seoul on June 16. “So, the Dominican Republic is not only the most competitive country in the region in terms of taxes, labor, real estate, transportation and security, it also has been ranked first in the number of agents, companies and revenues.”

Del Castillo arrived in Seoul on June 16 for a three-day trade mission during which he took part in a one-day seminar and met with the Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Han Jin-hyun.

Even though South Korean ties to the Caribbean have been extremely shallow for most of their half-century history, things started to pick up in the mid-2000s. South Korean trade and investment in the Dominican Republic is still not robust. Investors directed just $4.2 million to the island nation in 2011 and, in 2012, two-way trade was just $300 million. Recent active and high-level official contact, however, could change that.

Seoul began to upgrade its foreign policy presence there, part of bolstering its diplomatic relations with developing nations around the world. Even now, however, South Korea has but two ambassador-level diplomatic missions in the Caribbean, one in the Dominican Republic and one in Jamaica. Like the United States, South Korea does not have diplomatic relations with Cuba.

So, it makes sense that Seoul is first looking to the Dominican Republic to begin bolstering its Caribbean ties.

In February, a delegation from the Dominican Republic’s Export and Investment Center (CEI-RD) arrived here for a slew of meetings with government officials and companies, as well as for an investment seminar at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency in Seoul.

Officials from the two countries also talked during a number of multilateral gatherings. For example, officials here met with Dominican representatives at the 2013 High-Level Forum on Korea-Latin America Partnership and the 17th Korea-Latin America Business Forum in Seoul in November last year.

On top of South Korea’s regional ties with the Caribbean, bilateral ties between the Dominican Republic and South Korea stepped up a notch in recent years. When President Leonel Fernandez visited South Korea in 2006, the two nations signed 20 cooperative agreements.

Overall, the Dominican Republic has a strong track record for attracting investment in the region. The country received about $2 billion in foreign investment last year ― about 45 percent of total FDI going into the Caribbean was destined for the island nation in 2013.

The country has nine international airports and 60 daily flights from air and sea ports to locations in the U.S. and elsewhere. Dominican trade officials emphasized Monday its “free zone facilities.”

For example, its PISA Industrial Park, next to the capital city of Santo Domingo and the second-largest seaport of Haina Port, has been operating since 1985. It is a 0.6-square-kilometer manufacturing platform for the export of everything from medical components to electronics parts.

Officials also boasted that the country has “turned into an on-demand and dependable option for attraction of FDI.” Considering the buzz and the recent moves by South Korean officials, investment numbers could follow soon.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2014@heraldcorp.com)