Customs Agency (DGA) director general Eduardo Sanz Lovatón says the Dominican Republic has become the second most competitive country in Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of logistics costs. The director of the DGA made the remark when participating as a guest speaker at the AmchamDR Talk organized by the Trade Facilitation Committee of AmchamDR.
Sanz Lovatón said the DR is now only trailing Panama. He says the government and public sector are working together to become the leading logistics hub in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Sanz Lovatón said that 2021 was the year with the highest maritime and air traffic. Operations at Dominican logistics centers grew by 130%.
He also highlighted that 2021 was the year with the highest volume of transit cargo in the Dominican Republic, in which 771,930 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) corresponded to maritime cargo, representing an increase of 60% over 2019.
Similarly, 1,160.76 tons of air cargo were transported, consisting of an increase of 36.6% when compared to pre-pandemic year 2019.
Sanz Lovatón stressed that work is underway on the Hub Segment Study Project, a collaboration between the country’s American Chamber of Commerce (AmchamDR) and the Customs Agency (DGA) to define the strategy and action plan that the Dominican Republic will be developing to become a world-class logistics hub.
He stressed that the study seeks to draft a strategy for the promotion and attraction of foreign investment to propel the country to become the logistics hub of reference in the region.
Sanz Lovatón explained that in a first phase, the DGA has improved country trade and investment statistics. In a second phase, the AmchamDR is carrying out a competitive analysis. In a third phase, AmchamDR is working on defining a strategy and action plan for the hub services, according to each market.
The chairman of AmchamDR’s Trade Facilitation Committee, Alexander Schad said that for more than 10 years, the chamber’s mixed public/private committee has been working continuously to promote safer international trade, with lower costs and time. He said great progress has been made, which now benefits the logistics hub.
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El Caribe
30 June 2022