A total of 22 companies from the Dominican Republic participated in the SIL International Logistics Fair that was held in the Spanish city of Barcelona, where The Caribbean country sought to establish itself as a benchmark for the sector worldwidefor its strategic value and its boost to this economic activity.
In statements to EFE, the Deputy Director General of Customs of the Dominican Republic, Johannes Kelner, stressed that the sector is “Increasingly important” in his country and that “it has grown in volume, in double digits”, since the nation now has “more infrastructure”.
Kelner stated that his country has a “excellent air connectivity in the region”as a consequence of its high tourism, and its geographical location is strategic, with a good “closeness and fluidity of load” with the United States by sea “who is the largest consumer”.
He also stressed the good connectivity by sea with Europe, since the Dominican Republic has “the shortest maritime transit in Latin America” -region with which it also has a fluid circulation- to reach the Old Continent, only 9 days away.
The Dominican customs deputy director assured that the objective in the SIL, which has just closed its last edition with more than 15,000 participants, is “get the Dominican Republic recognized”that the economic sector sees the advantages that it has at a logistical level.
“We have been recognized for the tourism issue, but it is also the time for this new part of the economy,” such as logistics and manufacturing, he stressed.
Regarding this last issue, he explained that manufacturing companies in the Free Zones, especially multinationals, but also some local companies, “have decided to outsource their services” and some have also “set up their distribution centers.”
Kelner stated that The Dominican Republic has established itself as a logistics operations center thanks to public-private collaboration, with a favorable legal framework for the sector and with political stability in the country.
Last year, the Free Trade Zones sector in the Caribbean country had an export figure for a total value of 7.76 million dollars.
Regarding connectivity, Dominican Republic has 8 international airports40 airlines operating in the country, 320 daily flights, 150 connections to cities around the world and 9,600 monthly international flights.