The Dominican Association of Free Zones (Adozona) assured that the sector projects a growth of at least 10% by the year 2022, after culminating an unprecedented 2021 in the history of free zones, with record numbers in the number of parks, companies and level of exports.
The president of Adozona, Luis José Bonilla, pointed out that last year the sector showed an increase of 24% compared to 2020 and 18.3% compared to 2019. He also highlighted that in the same year they reached a monthly record of exported in March, with a total of US $ 667 million in exports, a figure that had never been achieved to date.
“We closed 2021 with 183,000 jobs, that is higher than the number of jobs we had in February 2020, ending with 13,000 more jobs than in the pre-pandemic. We also concluded with 740 companies and 80 parks in operation, which shows the resilience of the sector in the face of all kinds of adversities, and the great potential of the free zones to continue promoting development and the economy of the Dominican Republic, ”said Bonilla.
Adozona highlighted that the sector started the year with several expansions in process and new foreign investments, which is why a positive 2022 is expected, with an increase of more than 10%, and with the current export record and job creation record surpassed That was 195,000, over 20 years ago.
The executive vice president of Adozona, José Manuel Torres, added that purchases will be close to 100,000 million pesos, which shows the strength of the chains and “spillover effect” that free zones have in the rest of the economy, both in jobs as in local market acquisitions.
In its last press conference in 2021, the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported, on the free zone sector, a GDP growth for the month of November 2021 in 13.6%, with what growth for the 11 months up to November 2021 reached 21.2% compared to 2020.
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