With the ambassadors of 48 African and Latin American nations applauding, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law the legislation that will assure the continuity of industrial free zones in the DR. The Caribbean Basin Initiative Expansion Bill and the African Opportunities Bill passed their final congressional hurdle earlier this month after two years of debate and uncertainty. Dominicans, including Sammy Sosa and Oscar de la Renta, played a prominent advocacy role in lobbying the congress for passage. Free Zones, of which the DR has 46, are substantially devoted to the assembly of apparel. The new U.S. law provides that, within established export quotas, clothing produced in the DR can compete in U.S. markets under the same tax-free incentives as clothing manufactured in Mexico and elsewhere. The DR’s free zones employ 191,000 people, making them collectively one of the cornerstones of the country’s economic and social stability.
