DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

Over the years, the boom of the free zone export plants, with their generous tax incentives and labor benefits, in the Dominican Republic has given the impression the country is a strong exporter. Nevertheless, economist Ellen Perez Ducy says exports of companies outside of the free zones have staggered. She finds there is a lot of myth to Dominican exports and urges the country focus more on becoming the power house of regional exports.

Perez Ducy writes in Diario Libre that the Dominican Republic’s goods exports doubled between 2014 and 2024, rising from US$6.8 billion to US$13.8 billion. Nevertheless, of these numbers, free zone exports were 60% of the total. Domestic exports, both agricultural and industrial sectors represented a modest increase of just US$1.22 billion over a decade and a half, while free zone exports grew by over US$4 billion.

Meanwhile...