The government anticipates future exports of traditional and non-traditional commodities and minerals will increase at an average rate of 6.5 per annum. This forecast is contained in a report on the country’s trade policy submitted to the World Trade Organization by the Dominican authorities. The report also forecasts annual growth rates for free trade zones in the 7 percent range. Also, the Dominican trade delegates expect the ratio of foreign trade to total GNP to grow by 35 percent in the not too distant future.
Dominican trade representative, Ramon Gonzalez Perez, told WTO delegates gathered in Geneva for a discussion on the country’s policy that foreign trade accounted for about 63 percent of current GDP – an indication of the country’s willingness to open up its economy to the outside world. Mr. Gonzalez, who is also the Dominican Minister for Trade and Industry, pointed out that in order for the country to comply with the WTO’s latest resolutions, it had to revamp its entire tariff structure. As a direct result, 27 laws, 50 decrees, 87 special contracts, and a number of other barriers on free trade were eliminated.