The national Free Trade Zones council has issued permits for ten more companies to set up factories in the Dominican Republic. Jeanette Dominguez, director of the FTZ council, said yesterday that the new companies would be operating in Santiago, San Pedro de Macoris, Nigua and Bani, among others, and would generate an estimated 3,000 new jobs. The companies setting up new operations will include OW Logistics, Hopper Dominicana, LS Services, Royalty Manufactory, United Hearshore Operations, PC Knitting Corporation, Rays, S.A, Enalerta Manufacturing and Green Island Apparel. Dominguez told reporters that the Free Trade Zone sector, which employs 175,000 people, has enjoyed a recovery in the last year.
On the other hand, a report in Hoy newspaper today indicates that the Association of Free Zones of Santiago has alerted that the insecurity, discredit and economic instability could lead companies to shift their production to other countries. Engineer Ricardo Fondeur said that last year the Santiago lost 20,000 jobs given the economic instability and high production costs. Fondeur said that when he meets