The executive director of the National Council of Export Free Zones, Luisa Fernández Durán presenting findings of the 2018 Free Zone Industry The report revealed a pressing need for more bilingual industrial engineers and chemical engineers for the sector.
There are 673 free zone operations in 76 free zone industrial parks located in 25 provinces and the National District. The number of companies grew by 4.2% compared to 2017. Of the companies, 40% are from the United States and 22% from the Dominican Republic.
Daniel Liranzo, executive deputy director spoke of the diversity of the free zone operations in the country. He said that Dominican free zones export 1,849 lines of products to 132 countries.
50% of the free zone manufacturing companies are located in the northern region and 23% in the National District and Santo Domingo Province. Another 17% are located in the south and 9.5% in the eastern region.
Free zone companies exported US$6.23 billion in 2019, up 9.1% compared to the previous year. Free zone exports are 57% of total Dominican exports.
The companies employ 171,726 employees, while another 200,000 indirect jobs are created by the value chain. Women make up 50.4% of the jobs, with men 49.6%.
The Dominican Republic is the world’s leading exporter of cigars, the second largest exporter of electric switches to the US, the second largest exporter of candles in Latin America, the third largest exporter of wool coats to the US, the third largest exporter of medical instruments to Latin America and the third largest exporter of footwear in Latin America.
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El Caribe
2 May 2019