Joint Statement on Economic Cooperation Between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

PRESIDENT Lyndon B. Johnson, Dr. Joaquin Balaguer, President of the Dominican Republic, and Dr. Roberto Sanchez-Vilella, Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, announced today that a Joint Dominican Republic-Puerto Rican Economic Commission would be appointed and would meet during the first week of November in Santo Domingo to begin technical planning to develop closer and mutually beneficial economic relations between their peoples.

The Commission, whose functions have been under study for several months, will operate through the auspices of the Technical Secretariat of the Presidency of the Dominican Republic and the Cooperacion Desarrollo Economico del Caribe in Puerto Rico, and will be composed of representatives from those government agencies directly concerned with the development and coordination of economic affairs.

In making the announcement, they expressed the conviction that strengthened economic cooperation between the governments and peoples would contribute not only to the economic and social development of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico but also to the progress of the entire Caribbean area, within the framework of the ideals envisioned by the Alliance for Progress. The work of the Joint Commission will in no way replace or duplicate the activities in which various international organizations or agencies of the United States Government are now carrying on in the Dominican Republic. The President of the United States, the president of the Dominican Republic, and the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico expressed their desire that those organizations and agencies would cooperate and assist, as appropriate, in this joint effort.