Dominican trade zone sector facing crisis

Dominican trade zone sector facing crisis With many manufacturing operations closing in duty free zones in the Dominican Republic and an estimated 30,000 workers laid off, the government is seeking ways to help prop up the troubled sector.
   Eddy Martinez, the director of the Centre for Exports and Investment (CEI) met with free zone entrepreneurs in Santiago this week, according to a report in Dominican Today, and said the government wants to implement a competitiveness plan that would increase labor productivity.
   Meanwhile, the Dominican Association of Duty Free Zones issued a press release calling for emergency actions to stem the downturn for free zone companies, including closer links between exchange rates and consumer prices, less rigid positions from labor, and changes in rules that constrain the transportation of merchandise.
   The statement also called for the rapid implementation of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States.