El Siglo reports new figures that show the Dominican Republic was second only to Mexico in growth of exports from all Latin American countries in the ?90s. The InterAmerican Development Bank (BID) looked at 24 Latin American nations and measured their export levels over the last ten years. The top five in order of percentage growth were: Mexico, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Suriname. Haiti was at the bottom of the list. The organization reports that only in Columbia, Paraguay and Haiti did exports grow less than in the previous decade. The BID says the DR owes its success in the last decade to having gained access to certain markets, especially the US; to having strengthened its position in the world economy; and to having focused on products in the highest demand on the world market. However, Hoy newspaper reports that the same BID report also ranks Latin America and the Caribbean quite low in the competitiveness area. It says average growth in competitiveness was only 3.3% over the past decade. It also says the DR is in 50th place in world competitiveness. The reports blames low productivity among the Latin American work force.
