Fernandez Creates Transitory Free-zone Industry Subsidy Fund

President Fernandez recently issued presidential Decree 552-07, which calls for the creation of a fund that would subsidize the Dominican Republic free zone industry for a nine-month period. The fund would prevent further losses in the industry, a sector of the Dominican Republic’s economy which has been severely affected by increasing pricing competition from China on apparel contracts. Distribution will be made based upon the free zone company’s fixed workforce.

This new measure comes at a time when the Dominican Republic free zone sector is experiencing an abrupt business model trend change from textile assembling facilities to more service oriented ones, such as calling centers which cater their services to US, Canadian and British corporations.