The minister of Industry, Commerce, and SMEs, Víctor “Ito” Bisonó, reports a “very significant expansion” of call center companies installed in the country, estimating that they generate approximately 40,000 jobs.
“It’s not just as people think: call centers. They are specialized call centers in things you can’t even imagine. Here, there’s a call center that specializes in hospital reservations in the United States to ensure there are no vacant slots,” he says.
For this sector and the development of the entire industrial framework that Bisonó promotes for the country, he observes the need for the young population to empower themselves in English learning and academic preparation. “We have 11 million Dominicans, half of whom are under 50; a young population that integrates easily,” he says.
He mentions that there is a mandate from the President of the Republic to develop a public-private strategy to design which professions, specializations, and technical careers the country needs for these times.
Currently, the areas of knowledge with the highest enrollment in higher education are: business, education, health, and humanities, according to official data.
Job Positions:
According to figures shared with Diario Libre by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and SMEs, by the end of 2023, there were 820 free trade zone companies in operation, distributed across 87 parks.
In that year, 76 new companies were also approved, projecting the generation of 13,823 direct jobs.
“Before we came into office, free trade zones, for example, were enemies of local industry and vice versa, and they treated each other that way,” Bisonó comments. He recalls that, with the issuance of decree 588-20 on industrialization in the Dominican Republic and integration work of the councils, a better environment was generated. “Local industry used to sell 80,000 million pesos to the free trade zone. Nowadays, it sells 130,000 million.”
By the end of 2023, free trade zones reached 197,674 direct jobs registered with the Social Security Treasury (TSS), marking their highest level and representing a 3% increase compared to 2022, according to shared data.
The ministry assures that these are better and more technified jobs, where more than 34% correspond to technical and professional positions, and nearly 53% of the total are female jobs.
Free trade zone exports in 2023 exceeded the $8 billion threshold, with a year-on-year growth of 3.8%. Additionally, they represent 67.5% of the country’s total exports.
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