Positioning the Dominican Republic as a regional export and investment’s hub

Through expert guidance, training and/or inter-institutional cooperation, ProDominicana helps national exporters and foreign investors find better ways to do business.

ProDominicana’s comprehensive services to investors, exporters and buyers have actively contributed to the country’s current economic resilience, diversification and growth. From January to November 2021, the country’s exports reached historical levels, with an accumulated US $10,814 million; growth arrived at 28.4% compared to the first half of 2020; and FDI increased 49.4%, going from US $1,083 million in 2020 to US $1,617.5 million in 2021, making the Dominican Republic the first destination country for FDI in the Caribbean. “There has been a resilience of the country's industrial and export sectors, and the measures taken have reduced the impact of the pandemic, increased trust from investors, and opened doors to new business opportunities”, assures Mrs. Biviana Riveiro, Executive Director of ProDominicana.

On the export front, some of these measures include new platforms and services that have improved access to international markets, like the Directory of Exporters, the Export Guide, the FDI markets service and the training of more than 2,000 people to create a digital ecosystem of services. This digital platform integrates ProDominicana Capacita and Data Market, with all the information related to exports and access to international markets; as well as ProDominicana Connect, a B2B platform that connects international to local buyers and that is projected to be available to micro, small and medium entrepreneurs as well.

Furthermore, the Free Zone sector, which comprises around 60% of exports, has been positively influenced by the new Customs Law’s significant tax exemptions of up to 100% in installation and operation’s processes. Consequently, the sector grew 34.7% in the first half of 2021 with US $3,475,783, there are now over 75 parks with more than 700 free zone companies installed in the country, and the possibility to start selling to the domestic market without limitation. “Free zones are an essential sector that has undergone a very profitable revitalization process. We hope to grow to more than a thousand companies in the coming years, thanks to the facilities that are being granted to them”, assures Mrs. Riveiro.

Regarding investments, ProDominicana offers investors technical assistance, information and support in all the necessary steps and requirements for the installation, development and/or expansion of their projects. In order to further facilitate this process, the government has implemented the Zero Bureaucracy Program, including the “Single Investment Window”, to simplify procedures and save investors time and money by integrating all the necessary procedures in the same platform. Moreover, ProDominicana aims to keep promoting the public-private investment scheme to diversify into sectors like the renewable energies or other types of tourism to promote the development of major infrastructure projects with a high socioeconomic impact.

Given the country’s outstanding economic markers, beneficial legal framework and the excellent services and facilities offered to exporters and investors by ProDominicana and other governmental offices, ProDominicana’s Executive Director has no doubts regarding the country’s potential. “With one of the best telecommunications infrastructures in Latin America, more than 19,000 km2 of roads, eight international airports, twelve seaports, and four cruise ports, we already are the logistics’ hub of the Caribbean. Now, we intend to be the export and logistics’ hub of the region.”

During the pandemic, Pellerano Nadal invested on further improving their connectivity, adding another competitive advantage to their already impressive portfolio. In the next years, they expect to have a higher demand of tax and environmental services, and above all to continue offering innovative solutions to the most complex and challenging cases. Like Mr. Pellerano assures, “as lawyers, we can be excellent strategic partners to our clients. Sometimes things are possible, other times they are impossible, but sometimes the problem can be that your project does not have the proper regulations. Those are the kind of challenges that we like to work on, the ones that seem impossible.”