President Luis Abinader continued his high-level agenda in France this week, centering on the Dominican Republic’s integration into global standards for transparency. On 25 March 2026, Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez and OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Paris, formalizing a partnership to design the country’s first National Integrity and Anti-Corruption Strategy.
The agreement, witnessed by President Abinader, aims to align Dominican public policy with international benchmarks. During his keynote at the OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum, Abinader described corruption as an “invisible tax” that distorts competition and discourages investment, asserting that integrity is a pillar of his administration’s economic and democratic development.
The OECD preliminary report: A reality check
While the signing marks a diplomatic milestone, a preliminary OECD report released alongside the proceedings highlights a significant “implementation gap” in the Dominican Republic. The study, which covers the 2025-2026 period, notes that while legal frameworks are being drafted, practical enforcement remains the primary hurdle.
The report provides a statistical breakdown of the nation’s integrity systems compared to OECD standards. The report shows major discrepancies into what laws say and the reality:
Political Financing. Regulatory compliance 90%, practical implementation 14%
Conflict of Interest. Regulatory compliance 78%, practical implementation 22%
Access to Information. Regulatory compliance 67%, practical implementation 58%
Judicial Integrity. Regulatory compliance 59%, practical implementation 40%
Public Official Discipline Regulatory compliance 42%, practical implementation 0%
Prosecutorial Integrity. Regulatory compliance 21%, practical implementation 5%
Lobbying Regulation. Regulatory compliance 0%, practical implementation 0%
Critical weaknesses identified
The OECD findings reveal several “black holes” in the Dominican regulatory landscape:
Lobbying & influence: The country scored 0% in both theory and practice. There are currently no laws regulating lobbying, no “cooling-off periods” for former officials entering the private sector, and no public registry of ultimate beneficial owners of companies.
Asset declarations: While 78% of the necessary laws for managing conflicts of interest are on the books, only 14% of asset declarations filed since 2018 have been verified.
Political accountability: Despite high marks for legal prohibitions on illegal donations (90%), actual transparency is low (14%). Campaign financial reports and sanctions for violations are rarely made public, and not all political parties submit accounts.
Disciplinary systems: The system for sanctioning public officials is virtually non-functional in practice (0%), lacking digital management systems or clear guidelines for investigating misconduct.
Moving forward
The development of the National Integrity Strategy is being led by the Government Ethics and Integrity Agency (DIGEIG). The OECD concluded that the future strategy must focus on closing the chasm between existing laws and their daily application.
The OECD, an international organization of 38 member countries, has spent over 60 years advising governments on policies to foster prosperity and equality. For the Dominican Republic, this partnership represents a formal commitment to move beyond “slogans” and toward a governance system rooted in universal accountability.
Read more:
OECD report on DR
Listin Diario
Diario Libre
26 March 2026