Dominican Republic – Jorge Szabo - Communicating with Other Cultures

Following up on the first post of my newsletter on LinkedIn, I am sharing this week’s article with a summary of the interview I did with Jorge Szabo, from the Dominican Republic. ????

First and foremost, Jorge is a proud father of two boys.? He is an economist with a background on finance and has been working at the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic for the past 16 years already.?

The article below is only a short summary of the conversation I had with Jorge, where he shares insights on the cultural nuances you need to consider when meeting with local Dominicans, especially in a business context.? The human connection, and empathy created, is very important to build and sustain relationships with your counterparts in the Dominican Republic.? Don’t miss out Jorge’s full interview on this direct link.

For more information about Jorge, and his work, you can reach him through this link:

LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/jsv2023/

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As I mentioned in the first post of this newsletter, all the international interviewees will be asked the same 7 questions.? The objective is for us to learn new insights on the most effective way to communicate and understand different cultures when doing business in the specific country where the interviewees work at.?

This will help the foreign businessperson who wants to enter a new market to increase empathy and cultural understanding with their international colleagues, clients, or partners.?

We will be publishing the full recorded interviews on our recently rebranded and relaunched YouTube Channel.?? I will share a summarized version of each of the interviews through a new article on this newsletter.? ?Don’t forget to subscribe to the YouTube Channel and receive updates of the future interviews we will be organizing.?

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So, let’s begin!

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The 7 questions, and Jorge’s answers, are the following:

1.?Tell us more about you and what kind of work you do.

At the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Jorge works at the Department of Regulation and Financial Stability.? They are in charge of the regulations of the banking system in the country.

Specifically, Jorge works in the area of reserve requirements at the Central Bank.

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2.?What are some things you recommend people to do or say when first meeting and speaking with a person with whom they might initiate a new project or business opportunity together in the Dominican Republic?? What should someone not do or say?

The Dominican culture is very peculiar, Jorge says.?

When speaking to people in the country, you notice that they are very warm and open, including to foreigners.? This may come across a bit strange, especially when dealing with people living in the United States, or in other cultures, because these other contacts tend to behave more “serious” when discussing business.? Serious in the sense of being more direct and quicker to the point during business conversations. ?

In the Dominican Republic, Jorge mentions that people are more welcoming and usually become friendly with you very quickly.? You can be 20 minutes into a conversation, and you can feel like you know them your entire life.? This translates into the business sphere as well.

When doing business with someone in the Dominican Republic, Jorge says that the trick is to just be very welcoming and letting the other person get to know you better.? This can lead them to feel more confident about working with you.

Something that Jorge suggests you not do, is to keep some sort of distance.? When trying to be too formal, or giving short answers, they may not trust you enough.? Perhaps they will feel like you are not showing or telling them everything they need to know.? This may lead your Dominican counterparts to hold back a little and could affect your relationship for business. ??

3.?We recognize that it is important to have a deeper cultural understanding of a local place when doing business there.? What cultural aspects might be considered when doing business in the Dominican Republic?

Jorge begins by highlighting that you need to first understand the economic background of the people you are meeting with.?

There exists a big economic disparity in the population.? You could have people living 5 minutes away from each other, but who come from very distant social and economic backgrounds.?

It’s important to keep this perspective in mind, because you can talk to someone about one topic and then, walking 5-10 mins in another direction, meet other people who have a totally different understanding of how things should be done.?

There is a different cultural, social, and economic reality between these groups.

This is important for foreigners to take into consideration so that they can be more receptive and not prejudge anyone before talking to them.?? You might find yourself acting very different, and perhaps seen as offensive, to people you might be meeting in the country.? This could be perceived as very negative and can affect your relationships as well.

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4.?If someone does not speak Spanish, what do you suggest a foreigner do to be able to communicate more successfully with locals in the Dominican Republic, and to be able to do business there?

In general terms, according to Jorge, not more than 20% of the population speaks English.? This is an estimate, Jorge says.

The small percentage of people who do speak English are usually those who went to bilingual schools growing up, or those working in the tourism sector.

When attending meetings, you could invite a translator to join, and this can help to establish clearer communication. ?However, it is recommended to prepare and present documents in Spanish.? This will facilitate further understanding of the content, especially if you are discussing business terms, etc.

Jorge does emphasize though, that a portion of the population who may not speak English fluently, do still speak the language to a minor extent.? They will find a way to communicate.? The Dominicans always try to find a way to get things done, he says, and even if they speak a little English, they will try to communicate with you. ?

5. To get better results in visibility or sales, what are your recommendations on the most effective ways to do marketing for products or services in the Dominican Republic?

It is important to study the market in advance.? Dominicans tend to buy products they can relate to.?

Understanding the culture, what Dominicans like, and how they interact with each other are all helpful to the sales teams of the foreign companies looking to sell in the country.

In terms of social media platforms, Jorge highlights that he does not use Facebook as much.? Yet, he visited Facebook marketplace recently and noticed that many people still sell and buy things through this channel.

Platforms like Instagram, X, and TikTok are the most popular ones used in the country.

In his own case, Jorge mentioned that about 70% of the things he buys online, he has seen them on Instagram or has had someone recommend them to him.?

TikTok is popular for people under 30 years old.

For older people, he suggests radio and television channels are still used to promote products and services as well.

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6. If a business partner in the Dominican Republic wants to get to know you better, and invites you to a local coffee / tea place, restaurant, or wants to do a “virtual happy hour” via Zoom, what are the kinds of topics people in the Dominican Republic like to talk about, and that is not related to business, for example??

Sports – especially baseball, which is the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic.

Both men and women like and know about sports in general.

Politics is also widely spoken in public.? People want to talk about it, share their views about the government, regardless of whether they are in favor or against it.

Jorge points out that in the Dominican Republic, there is not just two main political parties, like in the United States (Republicans and Democrats).

There are no large distinctions between the policies of the political parties in the country.? The discussions about politics can be quite open, because there is no strong polarization in the country regarding political views (left or right wing, etc). You are free to exchange ideas and there are no issues when talking about politics.?

Music and art are also popular.? Speaking about the local artists and music is something the Dominicans enjoy doing too.

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7. What one word should everyone learn to say in Spanish, and why??

Presidente – the local beer brand in the Dominican Republic.

Jorge enthusiastically references this word because he says there is a real sense of pride between the Dominicans involving domestic products.

Presidente beer is one of the most well-known products, and when the locals know that you recognize and compliment the beer, this will help you further connect with them quickly.?

This is a conversation starting point, a “breaking the ice” moment, when the locals know that you have identified and spoken about something that they are proud of in their country.?? This makes a good impression on the locals.

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I hope you enjoyed this summary of the conversation with Jorge, and don’t forget to watch the full interview with him through this direct link, and subscribe to our recently rebranded and relaunched YouTube Channel for more content on cross-cultural communication tips and lessons learned to share with everyone.?

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• Is there anything else, related to cultural or communication aspects with Dominican counterparts, that you think would be interesting to share with everyone as well??
• Or some experiences you may have had when working with Dominican colleagues, clients, or partners? Feel free to write them below in the comments.
• What other country (countries) do you want us to highlight in this channel, and to share their cultural and communication insights and suggestions?

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Would you like to recommend someone for us to interview from a specific country?? If so, write to us at, [email protected], for us to learn more about this person.

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*Please note that the answers provided by Jorge are based on his own experiences and knowledge of the local culture.? There is no intention to generalize all the Dominicans to any specific behavior mentioned in this interview.

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Muchas Gracias, Jorge

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