A quarter of all exports go to Haiti
Haiti has displaced the United States as the Dominican Republic's leading trading partner for non-industrial free trade zones products. Unnoticed by many, this process began in 2010, when Haiti first overtook the United States as the main destination for national exports produced outside free zones, according to a recent study by INTEC economist Pavel Isa Contreras.
Isa says that Central Bank figures show that 25% of all Dominican exports are going to Haiti, adding that every week thousands of Haitians engage in a more informal export process as they cross the border to buy US$20 or US$30 dollars worth of goods to take back home. It is difficult to quantify how much is exported informally, especially from the bi-national border markets, where hundreds of Haitians buy products, mainly food, at reduced prices. Figures for 2009 show US$753 million in exports to Haiti.
The upward trend of exports to Haiti has continued, with an increase in 2012 of 189.6% in formal exports from the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic exports a range of products to Haiti, mainly food and manufactured goods, including sugar, pasta, eggs, chicken, rice, metal bars, cement and other construction materials. The United Kingdom, Puerto Rico and Spain follow Haiti and the US in exports.
Free zone industry exports continue to be dominated by the US, which buys 80% of this output.
