Spanish
The Dominican Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Codopyme) warned the Government, the National Congress and all citizens that the future of this sector is at risk, due to an exclusionary, unjust and regressive development model.
The president of Codopyme, Fernando Pinales, lamented that despite the fact that SMEs represent 98% of the business fabric and are responsible for more than 50% of formal employment in the country, they are now facing a critical combination of threats, due to the implementation of regressive reforms, disproportionate laws, unfair competition, unaffordable costs and systematic exclusion from the benefits of economic growth.
Pinales argued that the Labor Code was agreed upon, but what was agreed upon is not respected.
He complained that after years of work within institutional tripartite structures, and with the aim of modernizing labor relations and reducing informality that affects more than 56% of the economy, the proposed modification to the Labor Code was distorted by interests outside the dialogue, ignoring the consensus reached and maintaining schemes that make the formalization of thousands of small businesses unviable.
Also, he said that the Solid Waste Law, more than a reform, will represent a threat to SMEs
"The recent proposed modification of Law 225-20 on Solid Waste represents a direct threat to the sustainability of small industries, workshops, businesses, and ventures. Far from solving the structural problem of waste in the country, it imposes abusive taxes without technical studies or differentiation by business size, flagrantly violating Law 187-17 on Business Classification," said the business leader.
He added that, even worse, it creates conditions for the emergence of monopolies in waste management, excluding SMEs from the garbage business, which aims to be hijacked by economic groups under the figure of the DO Sostenible trust.
In addition, he said that a tax reform is still pending, which, if not properly agreed upon, will end up suffocating even more those who are already in the formal sector. "SMEs cannot continue to be the State's petty cash, while informality and exempt sectors continue to grow without control," he stressed.
He affirmed that other threats to the national productive apparatus are the Modification of the Insurance Law, which, if approved, will further increase the cost of access to insurance, reducing its coverage and leaving SMEs unprotected.
In that sense, he added that currently only 4% of the national private infrastructure is insured due to the high costs.
He indicated that another of the threats facing Dominican MSMEs are Chinese businesses, free and informal zones, because they displace local producers, erode tax collection and operate with advantages that destroy fair competition.
Also, the proliferation of imported private label brands in supermarkets and large stores, often without complying with industrial or health registrations, affecting local production and the consumer.
Faced with all those threats, the president of Codopyme reiterated the call to the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, as well as to the National Congress and the institutional leadership of the country.
"Either a true national productive pact is built with MSMEs as the backbone of development, or the country will sink into a spiral of inequality, unemployment and imported dependence," said the business leader.
He maintained that SMEs are not asking for favors, but demanding equity, respect for consensus, fair competition, and public policies based on evidence and inclusion.
"Without SMEs there are no sustainable jobs, there is no economic resilience, there will be no future," he concluded.
