The Dominican Exporters Association (Adoexpo) says that if its members had greater support from the financial system and dependable electric energy the sector would be more reliable. Speaking to El Caribe reporters, they said that these are the major impediments to larger and more profitable exports from Dominican factories. Adoexpo president Kai Schoenhals said that small and medium-sized companies are exporting all the time, adding that, “we can’t wait until the public sector realizes this.” Schoenhals said that it was agreed during his meeting with the new director of the Dominican Republic Center for Exports and Investments (CEI-RD), Jean Alain Rodriguez, that these issues would be discussed at the next meeting of the Presidential Roundtable on Exports. He also noted that the planned fiscal reform includes the creation of an Export Bank, which is a good signal from the government.
However, Schoenhals is more critical than positive about the imminent tax reform. As reported in El Caribe, Schoenhals said that the taxation proposal made by the government could become a perfect storm that would affect exports. He said that the tax proposal as submitted would contribute to slowdown the economy that this year has only grown by 3.8%.
“I am referring to the slowdown of the economy in the United States that is only projected to grow by 2.2% this year plus the 0.7% slowdown in Europe. I mention them because they are our main buyers. Then it would be like a perfect storm that will definitely affect our exports,” he said.