The Directorate General of Customs and the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (AMCHAMDR), signed a letter of intent with the purpose of promoting joint initiatives to carry out the “Dominican Republic Logistics Hub Segment Study”.
This transcendental action is aimed at facilitating trade and is the first step towards turning the Dominican Republic into a world-class Logistics Hub. It is also part of the work being carried out by the National Trade Facilitation Committee (CNFC), whose presidency is held by the DGA.
The AMCHAMDR, as secretary of the CNFC, aims to comply with the actions approved within the Tactical and Strategic Plan of the Committee, which includes the implementation of this initiative for the development of the Logistics Hub, in compliance with Article 2 of the decree of that institution.
For the head of Customs, Eduardo Sanz Lovatón, this study is of vital importance, since it will reflect, with accurate data, the market sector to which it is directed, the strategies to be implemented, the number of destinations with which the country is connected by air and sea, and the proportion of containers entering and leaving Dominican territory, in addition to showing all the strengths that the country has as a Logistics Hub.
“Our dream is that the 155 thousand containers that have left our coasts empty, so far this year, leave with Dominican products and that we can increasingly showcase our country to the world, that we are the investment receptacle for those who want to manage the cargo that goes from South America to the United States, that we can invest in improving our infrastructure to receive more air cargo and improve the fight against illicit activities, so that the speed of movement of the cargo of the Dispatch in 24 hours program is not an obstacle,” he said.
In this regard, Sanz Lovatón expressed that “we must join efforts to carry out the Hub Segment Study and make it a reality. Through this study we will be able to count: the number of ships and containers in transshipment and returning empty, cargo movement statistics, variation of performance indicators, port movement rates, exportable logistics services, and, in short, identify opportunities, offers and demands for the benefit of the Dominican Republic”.
Roberto Herrera, president of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic, affirmed AMCHAMDR’s commitment to the development of initiatives that promote an improvement in the facilitation of trade and logistics in the country.
“The Hub market segment study is not a project of the CNFC, DGA or AMCHAMDR, it is a country project, which will be the ideal framework to develop strategies that will help us attract investment, which will in turn stimulate the economy, generate new employment opportunities and boost the competitive development of the logistics sector,” said Herrera.
Present at the signing ceremony were the general director of Customs, Eduardo Sanz Lovatón; the president and executive vice-president of AMCHAMDR, Roberto Herrera and William M. Malamud, respectively; in addition, Solangie Carbonell, advisor to the General Directorate of Customs, Eduardo Rodríguez, legal advisor and Perla de la Rosa, manager of Projects and Institutional Development of AMCHAMDR.
