Former Governor of Puerto Rico says: nearshore is an operational and geopolitical necessity.
Between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, there are significant business opportunities and, at the same time, room to develop joint strategies to achieve goals that allow them to better leverage markets such as the United States, China, and others globally.
Luis Fortuño, former Governor of Puerto Rico, said on Wednesday that although both countries face similar challenges in improving education, strengthening infrastructure resilience, improving the business climate, and in labor and technology fields, there is a great opportunity in nearshore.
“For reasons unrelated to either the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, a significant investment towards America from Asia is already happening, and this investment will accelerate in the coming years. That significant investment will continue,” Fortuño said.
He assured that Mexico is the one benefiting the most from the nearshore wave. He expressed that nearshore is credited with the 3.5% growth of the Mexican economy last year.
“Nearshore is an operational and geopolitical necessity,” he said.
To give a clearer idea, Fortuño indicated that 92% of US manufacturing executives have said they are already considering nearshore. Of those, nearly half have already begun taking affirmative steps to implement it.
He pointed out that it is estimated, however, that beyond Mexico, the two jurisdictions that make the most sense to take advantage of nearshore are the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
“Both economies – and this is a gift from God – are strategically located for easy supply to the major ports in the Gulf of Mexico of the United States,” Fortuño noted while participating in the First Forum “Economic Development Perspectives and Commercial Opportunities between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.”
According to data from the Dominican Republic’s Center for Export and Investment (ProDominicana), for the accumulated period of January-April 2024, the trade exchange between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico was $253.7 million, with 17.6% corresponding to imports of goods and the remaining 82.4% to Dominican exports.
“The exchange with Puerto Rico, although it seems relatively stable, with no significant growth, from my point of view, this is an opportunity in itself because it shows that there is trust among our companies, trust at the government level, and there is a specific and timely flow,” said Vladimir Pimentel, ProDominicana’s deputy director.
Pimentel indicated that it is essential to explore and deepen collaboration in the logistics part between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
“I have participated in forums of this type, where we make a differentiation, a separation of the economies of the markets, but we often do not see the unity and potential that we have for attracting investments as a region,” the official pointed out.
On the stage, where Dominican and Puerto Rican authorities and businessmen were present, Pimentel also highlighted the importance of nearshore, which means an influx of investments, capital, and interest from specific companies to be close to the United States.
“We make a regional attraction, each country facing those competitive or comparative advantages or how we want to present them. If we look at that regional dynamic, we can attract much more capital, and for the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico is of great interest, also logistically, because from Puerto Rico, we can also supply other islands to which access is relatively complex for the Dominican Republic,” Pimentel said.
Export history
ProDominicana’s data details that for the period 2019-2023, the trade exchange between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico amounts to $3,887.65 million, with 75% corresponding to exports and the remaining 25% to imports.
Likewise, the trade balance with this destination accumulates a commercial surplus of $1,969.04 million.
For January 2024, the bilateral trade behavior with Puerto Rico maintains the same trend, recording $45.13 million in exports and $12.81 million in imports.
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