creating jobs?

harold

New member
Mar 23, 2002
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I think all these wealthy dominican baseball players don't do enough for DR or better said they invest foolishly. If all these player would invest on manufacturing companies to improve exports,thus I believe creating more jobs, DR could be better off. It will create more jobs than openining shopping plaza which is what most of them do.

Instead of the DR digging up the resources for other countries to manufacture the goods. We should be doing both. If only these baseball players would invest on DR like the Canadians.

Take for example the Larimar stone. I heard it is only found in DR. You would think Alex Rodriguez or Sosa would start a Jewelry design firm and capitalize on this monopoly. But nooooh, it is exported to other countries for them to manufacture jewelry and make the bigger profit.

WHy don't they invest on nickel or the gold in DR. Any thing to keep the money circulating in DR.
I don't get it!
 

Pavan

Member
Jan 18, 2002
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It is because of Government Policies

Harold,

That was a nice post. A long while since something good came around. Here is what I have to add.

The Dom Rep is not the easiest place to conduct any business. Outside the Free Zone you are at the mercy of the corruption and red tape that is if you can somehow handle the electricity both in costs and non- availability.

Let's say that a foreigner wants to start a company in the Free Zone. He needs a residency and that takes 6 to 7 months. Then he needs all kinds of permits etc which depends on how much he can shell out. Then he will go thru hell getting the electricity and agua connected. This kills a year. The client is usually lost during that time.

On the other hand look at the customs tarrifs and systems. Garments are made in the free zone. But if you take out a pair of Liz Claiborn Jeans from the Zona Franca the legal way then they will cost more than a pair of jeans in your local mercado. On the other hand all the big importers have contributed towards the election costs of the President and Senators and thus they put in duites to favour these gentlemen importers.

The importers usually under invoice all products they bring in and the Aduana lets them get by for some grease on the palms. A new importer will usually get screwed by the big ones.

As soon as a small importer brings in an item the same as a big importer he will get squealed on by the big importer and the small guy will end up paying more than the big guy for the same commodity.

You may not know but you actually need an export licence in the DR and that licence is per comodity. You change the color and the licence is not valid.

Then there is the lack of the support industry. Let's say you want to make garments, everything comes form the US or Mexico. Then you are importing and things become expensive for a new startup.

The Government also does not do much to protect the industry. In Mexico, India, Costa Rica, etc there are higher tarrifs for goods to be imported which are already made in the country. The Dominican customs allowing under invoicing are killing the local industry.

Labor is not cheap in the DR. The X-Mas bonus, regalia etc is making costs higher. Also the labor is not efficient enough.

If it were for me I would stay away from putting a new factory there also.
 

Jan

Bronze
Jan 3, 2002
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Santo Domingo Este
www.colonialzone-dr.com
I was just at a friends home in the montains near Jarabacoa this weekend. He imports clothing from the free zone. I did not realize that they import the cloth to send out the clothing. Doesn't this country make cloth? and if so why don't the people here use stuff from this country instead of bringing it from elsewhere? I'll ask him these questions next time I see him.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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Cloth

For most products, the cloth is imported from the USA, under stringent inspection from Liz Claiborne or Levis ...

For the DR to start producing cloth is not practical since the #1 competition will be from China where cloth is dirt cheap and is killing the textile industry in the States as it is,....

What has been brought to the DR is a knitting mil to make underwear, all the cutting and the finishing. Some of the largest units in the Free Zones are for finishing garments--washing, drying ironing, marking, folding, labeling and pricing...of hundreds of thousands of garments a week....

HB , informando,
BANJO.GIF
 

harold

New member
Mar 23, 2002
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How about all these Hotels in Punta Cana. There all invested by Spanish firms. You always here : the spanish firm so and so wants to deveolpe such and such area. You would guess at least one these big resorts would be owned by a Dominican. To keep teh money flowing. Whatever!