Spokesmen from the Dominican Association of Exporters (ADOEXPO) are pleading for greater government efforts to help tackle the issues of competitiveness facing the nation. The president of ADOEXPO, Braulio Brache, said that one of the issues with the strongest effect on the country’s businesses is the electricity situation, which causes a double cost effect. Brache is also the vice-president of the Rica Milk Company, and he pointed out that many companies are obliged to produce their own power in order to guarantee the continuity of their production processes, and yet, at the same time, they are obliged to pay the electricity company for poor service. What bothered the top executive of the exporters’ association was the fact that while the different companies may well be prepared to face the upcoming entry into a free trade agreement with Central America and the United States, the surroundings and the business environment in the Dominican Republic are not. Of course, he cited the electricity problems as the number one obstacle facing Dominican competitiveness in the marketplace.