In the first half of 2021, exports in the Dominican Republic had a growth of US$884 million, which is equivalent to 32.2%, when comparing these figures with those of the same period of 2020.
This was revealed yesterday by the Government in the framework of the celebration of the National Day of Free Zones and which was commemorated in an event led by President Luis Abinader in which the growth and positioning of the Dominican Republic as “a regional model in that sector” was shown.
The sector, which has become one of the main engines of economic recovery and job generation in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, also achieved, in addition, an increase of 21.0 % compared to the same period of 2019 (before the pandemic), as detailed by the president of the Dominican Association of Free Zones (Adozona), Luis José Bonilla Bojos.
The figures
During the event, he reported that in the first half of 2021, exports showed a growth of 28 %, going from 4,492.8 million dollars in the same period in 2020, to 5,751.6 million dollars in the same period of 2021, a difference of 1,258.8 million dollars that are driven, in large part by the free zones, which represent 70 % of this growth.
“These results, which reflect the potential achieved by the free zones with their diversification, are evidenced in the performance of different subsectors, among them, tobacco and its derivatives, which exhibited an extraordinary growth of 80.3 %, as well as textiles which grew by 73.6 %, followed by electrical and electronic products with a growth of 10.1 % and, finally, medical and pharmaceutical devices, subsector of greater participation, which grew by 3.7 %”, explained Bonilla Bojos.
He expressed, in this sense, that if this growth rate is maintained, it is very likely that the free zones will close the year 2021, for the first time in history, with a level of exports of 7,000 million dollars.
President Luis Abinader instructed to initiate a review process, in consultation with the private sector, to identify the opportunities and challenges arising for the Dominican Republic as a result of the reconfiguration of global supply and value chains, as well as nearshoring, whose main purpose is to identify new investments and increase existing ones in free zones and prioritized sectors.
90% of multinationals are run by Dominicans
The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Víctor Bisonó, highlighted that before 70% of the management positions of the installed multinationals were occupied by foreigners and today 90% of these positions are occupied by Dominicans, while the Secretary of the OAS, Luis Almagro, who participated virtually, emphasized that the country is taking important steps to become an attractive platform for countries to transfer their services here.
