Local and international experts participated in the event Think Logistics 2022, Global Trade Transformation, organized by the Dominican-Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Tourism (CCTDS), where they agreed that regionalization will be the catalyst for logistics in the Dominican Republic in 2023.
The analysts explained that exogenous factors, from the geopolitical situation in Europe and the end of the pandemic, has motivated local logistics to transform and take advantage of natural opportunities.
“The logistics sector is a part of the global product value chain. The challenge for international trade is to adapt to the changing geopolitical situation we have,” explained Gaetan Bucher, president of the CCTDS and CEO of the international firm CAELUM Capital.
For his part, the deputy director of the Directorate General of Customs, Johannes Kerner, said that after Panama, the Dominican Republic is the second most competitive country in our region in terms of logistics costs and that work continues on innovation, technology and training for the consolidation of the country as a logistics hub.
“The HUB Logistics mission in Spain has been a public-private initiative but beyond that an opportunity of an academic nature to analyze good practices that can be competitive to adapt them to our country,” he explained.
New York University professor Steven Altman explained that according to the DHL Global Connectivity Index, which measures the international flow of trade, capital, information and people, global trade in goods has grown by 10% and that this is due to the needs of consumers. Therefore, the globalization of trade will have to adapt and coexist with regionalization.
“The main reason why trade has grown so decisively again, despite the disruptions in global supply chains, was an increase in the demand for tradable goods,” said Altman, who heads NYU’s Stern Center for the Future of Management, who said that according to the globalization index they publish, the Dominican Republic has a potential for growth in globalization above the average for the region.
Meanwhile, the vice minister of Free Zones and Special Regimes of the MICM, Carlos Flaquer, said that the main opportunity for the Dominican Republic in the framework of the Development Alliance for Democracy (ADD) of which the country is part of the relocation of supply chains from Asia to the region.
“With nearshoring or offshoring in the region we will take advantage of global trade. The priority sectors that have been identified to strengthen value chains are: medical devices, electronic devices, renewable energies and health tourism.”
Meanwhile, CCTDSk vice president and CEO of Schad Logistics, Alexander Schad stressed that the strategies to be promoted at this time are postponement, mass customization and reverse logistics.
“By postponement I mean transforming the product to its final form at the latest possible time in consumer markets. Researchers indicate that Mass Customization provides competitive advantages to companies that implement it and is on the radar as a latent incremental trend. Reverse logistics gives us new opportunities for the circular economy, as the product goes back to the manufacturer or distributor for recovery, repair, recycling or disposal”.
The event was attended by the Swiss ambassador in the country, Rita Hämmerli-Weschke and Erik Alma, CEO of HIT – Puerto Río Haina, who participated in the panel: Transformation of global trade, challenges and opportunities.
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