The president of the National Council of Business (Conep), Elena Viyella de Paliza complained that the present tax structure, the limited and short term financing that is available, and the cost and unreliable supply of electricity, are the main factors undermining the competitiveness of goods and services produced in the DR. “If we want to improve the general conditions of the population, create more jobs and improve the education and health services, it is indispensable that measures be taken to energize sustainable growth,” she stated. “And this we have to accomplish ourselves, we Dominicans, internally, free of political partisanship and favoritism,” she stated.
As reported in Hoy newspaper, she said that the country has not been able to take advantage of the free trade agreements signed with Central America and the Caribbean because it has serious competitiveness and structural problems.
She called for a tax reform that would eliminate fiscal distortions, barriers and obstacles to business. The government, in turn, is seeking for tax reforms that will compensate revenues it will lose once the DR-CAFTA agreement signed with the US goes into effect as scheduled this year.
The business sector would like the government to carry out a true tax reform, and not condition the latter on situations of the moment, such as the free trade agreement with the US, the IMF agreement or the congressional and municipal elections scheduled for May 2006.