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Located in the center of the Caribbean Sea, the Dominican Republic is the second largest nation in the Caribbean, with a territory of 18,172 square miles on the eastern two-thirds of the Island of Hispaniola. The island offers a pleasant tropical climate with an average temperature of 77oF (approximately 25oC). The Dominican Republic can be reached by air in less than two hours from Miami, slightly over three hours from New York and less than an hour form San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Companies operating in and out of our many Industrial Duty Free Zones produce a wide variety of goods, including apparel, Electronics, footwear, leather goods, jewelry and medical products.
The Dominican Republic is home to many international industrial manufaturers, among which are Hanes, Rockwell, Wolverine Worldwide, Dexter Shoe, Kohler, Wacoal, Power One, Cuttler- Hammer, Andin International, Abbot Laboratories, GTE, Motorola, Baxter, Citibank, Smith-Enron, Colgate Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, Siecor, Shell, Xerox, IBM, Falconbridge, GE, Verizon, France Telecom, Motorola and many others. Employers characterize the Dominican labor as being diligent, highly trainable and capable of utilizing new technology. The tendency of these companies, once located, is that of expansion-a true demonstration of trust in the country and satisfaction with the Dominican workforce. The Dominican labor force is the nation's main asset.
Generous tax incentives are offered to companies establishing operations in Free Zones, including 100% tax and duty exemption on raw materials and equipment as well as no restrictions on the repatriation of profits. In addition, firms operating in the Dominican Republic enjoy the benefits provided through incentive programs such as the Caribbean Basin Initiative, which grants preferential treatment to products manufactured in the D.R. upon entry into the US. Other incentive programs also grant similar benefits for products entering the European market and the US Market as well, such as the Lome IV Accord and 192 the GSP, respectively.
The Dominican Republic has the most advanced telecommunications networks in Latin America. The telecommunications system is fully digitized with more than 650,000 lines. Services include global direct-dialing, cellular, pager, Internet and special data transmission lines. Deregulation and competition have allowed telecommunication's companies such as Codetel (Verizon), Tricom (Motorola), France Telecom, Orange, Centennial, etc. have brought telecommunication's prices down by over 200% in recent years.
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