Speaking at the seminar on the Dominican Economy: Challenges and Opportunities, World Bank representative, Cristina Malmberg urged the Dominican Republic to invest in education and health, otherwise it will not be competitive within the conditions of the DR-CAFTA trade agreement. The representative also pointed out that GDP growth in past decades was not based on the production of an educated and qualified workforce, but the changes coming with DR-CAFTA, the recent signing of the multi-fiber agreement and the elimination of subsidies to industrial free zones that alter the structure of commercial incentives and require the production of goods with a higher added value or special niches in order to compete. The WB representative added that in order to be competitive it is necessary to increase the quality and level of education in the Dominican Republic, provide adequate health services for the people and increase access to technology. Malmberg said that DR-CAFTA represents a unique opportunity for the Dominican Republic to re-launch its economic growth and create a more inclusive economic model. Malmberg criticized Dominican bureaucracy and the slowness of the processes involved for doing business in the DR. She pointed out that it takes an average of 78 day to get the paperwork done in the Dominican Republic, but only 39 in Guatemala, 31 in Jamaica and 45 in Nicaragua. The WB representative also pointed out that the requirements for exporters are also a serious stumbling block for export expansion. She cited the ADOEXPO report that indicates that there is ten times more paperwork required in order to export something from the Dominican Republic than from the other Latin American countries. Malmberg told the seminar audience that in the Dominican Republic it takes a full day to clear exports, and this looks bad compared to 10 minutes in Costa Rica, five minutes in El Salvador and 30 minutes in Guatemala.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Speaking at the seminar on the Dominican Economy: Challenges and Opportunities, World Bank representative, Cristina Malmberg urged the Dominican Republic to invest in education and health, otherwise it will not be competitive within the conditions of the DR-CAFTA trade agreement. The representative also pointed out that GDP growth in past decades was not based on … <\/p>\n