DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

The Ministry of Foreign Relations has been working overtime to obtain a renewal of the HOPE/HELP laws that had granted special, dutyfree, status of products originating in the unique factory of Codevi in Ouanaminthe, Haiti.

The factory is a partnership of Dominican and Haitian enterprises that is now the largest employer of with around 20,000 jobs for Haitians in the northern part of that nation. It is part of a “twin system” of manufacturing facilities, and it has been successful.

However, the legislation known as the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) and the Haitian Economic Lift Program (HELP) expired on 30 September 2025. The Wall Street Journal noted that “the US has disconnected the last large industry in Haiti.”

Nonetheless, Fernando Capellan, the president of Codevi, noted that since there had been no...