Roberto B. Saladin

Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United States of America

His Excellency Dr. Roberto B. Saladin, was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on the 23rd of July, 1936, speaks fluently four languages (Spanish, English, French and German), and has an extensive background in the areas of public administration, communication and diplomacy. He was appointed by His Excellency Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reyna, President of the Dominican Republic as Ambassador to the United States of America on March 20th, 2009 and presented credentials to His Excellency President Barack Obama on May 20th.

A graduate in Law from the Universidad de Santo Domingo, Ambassador Saladin has been involved in academic programs in Germany, France, the United States and Japan.  He has occupied different positions in the public and private sector of his country, among the most notable ones Alternate Executive Director, representing the Dominican Republic and Mexico, in the Board of Directors, at the Inter-American Development Bank (Nov. 2004-May 2009), Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the USA Government (1999-2002) appointed by president Leonel Fernandez Reyna; General Manager (CEO) (August 1996 – June 1999) of the Banco de Reservas, the largest commercial bank in the Dominican Republic; Governor of the Central Bank and President of the Monetary Board from November 1987 to September 1989.  In 1990 he was a candidate to the Presidency of the Dominican Republic with the support of the Christian Popular Party (CPP).  Prior to that, he worked as Secretary of State of Finance (August 1986 to October 1987).  Also, from 1978 to 1980 he occupied the position of General Secretary and Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Banco de Reservas.  He was one of the founders of the Dominican Export Promotion Center (CEDOPEX) in 1971, an autonomous institution of the Dominican Government and was Executive Director of said organization (c.1982). Before he worked in the following institutions:  General Controller of the Republic; Department of Agriculture and the General Direction of Telecommunications.

Aside from his extensive background on the administration of financial institutions, Ambassador Saladin has previously served for the Foreign Affairs Ministry.  From October 1965 to August 1966, he was Commercial Attaché of the Dominican Embassy in Bonn, Germany (where he was Consular Attaché and Chargé d’Affaires, a.i.). Later, he became Administrative Secretary of the Dominican Republic’s Permanent Delegation for UNESCO (1966-1969).  He has represented his country in many different international forums as the Annual Meetings of GATT, IFM, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and others.

In the area of public communications, Ambassador Saladin has been a frequent guest speaker in public forums in economics, education and international relations.  From 1980 to 1986, he was economical analyst of the news TV programs: “Mundo Visión” and “Hoy Mismo” (1983-1986), both in Channel 9, dominican television. Producer of the daily program “Diario Económico” (March 1991 to August 1996) on Channel 2, dominican television, and economical analyst on written media (for the journal “Hoy”) where he is a permanent columnist. 

He has served as member at the Board of Directors of INTEC (a privately owned, Dominican University), of Fundación San José (a foundation for the economically disadvantaged), and as Vice President of the Dominican-Japanese Cultural Institute. Member of Santo Domingo Country Club and Club Deportivo Naco in Santo Domingo, N.D. Member of the National Press Club, Washington, D.C.

Ambassador Saladin has published two books:  “Historia del Banco de Reservas 1941-1981”  (History of the Banco de Reservas:  1941-1981, published in 1981) and “El Banco de Reservas Hacia el Futuro” (The Banco de Reservas Towards the Future, published in 1999).