Border Incentives Law 28-01 was designed to mitigate poverty in seven provinces along the border with Haiti. Since its inception it has been bitterly opposed by the economic powerhouses of the Dominican Republic, gathered under the Dominican Republic Association of Industries (AIRD).
The latest broadside was issued by the president of the AIRD, Circe Almanzar, after Congress approved an amendment to Border Incentives Law 28-01 that creates a Special Zone of Border Development. Almanzar called on the Chamber of Deputies to reject the proposal.
According to the Santo Domingo business elite, Law 28-01 creates distortions and advantages that place the productive sector located in other areas of the Dominican Republic at a disadvantage to those businesses installed along the border.
Last week, the Permanent Commission on Border Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies issued a report that favored the legislative proposal that would modify Law 28-01, not only ratifying certain disputed aspects of the law, but also expanding the advantages over the rest of the country.
Circe Almanzar, the AIRD executive vice president, called on the Chamber of Deputies to reject the report. She noted that the report had been prepared without comments from the Taxes Agency (DGII), and without measuring the effect of these changes on tax collections as required by the Constitution and other laws. One of her specific complaints is the fact that according to the AIRD, 70% of the workers in the factories covered by Law 28-01 do not reside in the border provinces.
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Acento
28 June 2018
