The Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce has told Diario Libre that 10,530 companies were registered in 2013, which is 27.45% more than in 2012, when 8,262 companies went legit. Taxation, red tape and high labor costs have kept many would-be companies informal, but government procurement contracts seem to be encouraging more companies to formalize their status, reports the article. He says that the government awarded more than RD$65 billion in contracts, of which small business received RD$41 billion last year, according to Yokasta Guzman, director of Government Procurement. She reported that 18,000 new companies registered to sell to the government in 2013.
Fernando Ferran, vice president of the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce, says that 60-65% of the new companies will not make it past the first year.
Ferran says that the modalities for company formation chosen were:
* Sociedades Anonimas Simplificadas (SAS): 90
* Sociedades de Responsabilidad Limitada (SRL): 9,383
* Empresas Individuales con Responsabilidad Limitada (EIRL): 494
* Sociedades Anonimas (SA) 54
* Sociedades en Nombre Colectivo 1
* Sociedades Extranjeras 366.
He said even more companies would be formalized in 2014 with the start of operation of the single window initiative (Ventanilla Unica) that cuts red tape.
www.diariolibre.com/empresas/2014/01/07/i427721_2013-constituyeron-530-empresas-que-2012.html