Kenneth H. MacKay, special envoy of the White House, arrived yesterday for an official visit. He was received at the Santiago airport by Linda Watt, charge d’affairs of the US Embassy in the DR. During his stay he visited several apparel manufacturing plants in Santiago. He discussed textile parity bill, at present under study in the US Congress, and progresses made in the DR to curtail software piracy. The Dominican judiciary has aggressively pursued software piracy and raids on local companies have resulted in mass purchases of original software by Dominican and foreign companies operating in the DR During the visit to Santiago free zones, local apparel manufacturers highlighted how important the passing of the textile parity bill is to their apparel assembly operations. The bill would also ensure the survival of the southern US textile manufacturers, that sell to Dominican assembly industries. But the DR is losing business to Asia, Central America and primarily Mexico that is not affected by either taxes or quota limitations under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Central American textile industries can import the lower cost materials from Asia, reducing their production costs, and thus becoming an attractive option for apparel orders.
