and cattle products in the region. The main agricultural products in the country are rice and beans, and the most exported goods are sugar, coffee, cocoa, and tobacco. The country exports substantial amounts of oth- er products, including fruits, roots, and other vegetables. The products that have enjoyed the biggest growth are rice, cocoa, beans, potatoes, tobacco, and coffee. Significant growth also has occurred in the export of unprocessed tobacco, coffee beans, grain cocoa, and sugarcane. The Dominican Republic has been successfully experimenting with organic agriculture, which is a growing mar- ket. The country’s main organic products are dry coconuts, bananas, biodynamic bananas, pineapples, man- gos, lemons, green coffee, spices, crude coconut oil, and cocoa. An area that recently has experienced exceptional growth is livestock, fish, and wildlife, especially the pro- duction of chickens and eggs. The Ministry of Agriculture, with the support of other institutions, is the agency in charge of this industry with- in the Dominican economy.
MINING
Traditionally, the extraction of minerals has been an important activity in the Dominican Republic, which ex- ports gold, silver, nickel, marble, granite, and limestone. The importance of the mineral resources of the coun- try has made this one of the most important industries for investment. The supervising agency of this industry is the General Department of Mining, an agency of the Ministry of In- dustry and Commerce.
ELECTRICITY
The power generating and distribution units of the Dominican Power Company have been converted into three distribution companies owned and operated by the government and two power generating companies priva- tized in transactions involving companies with foreign and private partners. The Dominican General Electricity Law regulates all stages of production, transmission, distribution, and commercialization of electricity, as well as the functions of governmental entities supervising the whole system. Dominican law establishes the legal framework that regulates everything concerning the develop- ment of the Dominican energy industry, covering aspects such as the requirements to participate in this in- dustry, interconnection regulations, price determination, and sanctions for the possible violations by any of the participating agents.