The director of the Center for Development and Competitiveness (Proindustria), Ulises Rodríguez, said that the Dominican economy is showing signs of a total recovery and progressive growth, not only in the free zone sector, but industry in general.
When interviewed by journalist Lorenny Solano on the Dominican program Buenas Noches, Ulises Rodríguez said that, during the pandemic Dominican, industry proved strong, thriving, and capable of bouncing back and resilient in the midst of a situation as difficult as the pandemic has been.
The former deputy for Santiago indicated that when he took over Proindustria, he found it was not living up to the order or the purpose of the law as a center of development and competitiveness.
He pointed out that for 2019 in the sector of the free zones there were about 172 thousand and that when President Luis Abinader took office the challenge was to recover them. “But the great surprise was that before long the tens of thousands of jobs lost had all been recovered.”
“We reached this point this month, with growth that is around 30% in the free zones sector, a growth exceeding a 100% recovery, extraordinary figures, making us one of the countries that has been taken as a model in Central America, in the Caribbean and in Latin America, a reference point with regard to economic recovery in this sector throughout the region,” he said.
He explained that the free zone model is a space in this country given to a company that can be Dominican or foreign, which generally started with many companies that came to the country with large industrial groups, famous brands that have their captive market overseas.
He said that what attracts these industries to the Dominican Republic is labor, “production is brought here, but labor must be paid, that generates foreign exchange that strengthens the economy, it is a special model that has great benefits for the country.”
Regarding salaries, the official said that they have improved, admitting that they could be better, but affirms that the complaints over many years are no longer heard because the situation has changed and improved a lot.
Regarding unemployment, Ulises Rodríguez recalled President Luis Abinader´s electoral campaign promise to generate 600,000 jobs. However, seeing the positive results that the government has had in its policy of job creation and the rapid economic recovery and reactivation of the economy, “well, the goal has changed.”
“And we are talking about a million jobs and I want to reiterate and give credit to President Luis Abinader, who, in the midst of the pandemic and that commitment to guarantee the health of the Dominican people, also saw the economic benefits and took advantage by sourcing vaccines in time, and began to vaccinate the Dominican people, so we are one of the countries around the world that best managed pandemic,” in the world he said.
Dominicana Buenas Noches airs every Saturday, at 10:30 p.m. on RNN channel 27 and is hosted by prominent journalist and entrepreneur Lorenny Solano.
Source:
Hoy
