Spanish
The National Council of Private Enterprise (CONEP) presented today the vision of the Dominican business sector, in the face of the complex global and local situation, identifying both the risks facing the Dominican economy and the strengths that position it to navigate international turbulence with resilience.
In a meeting with journalists and opinion leaders, the president of CONEP, Celso J. Marranzini, called for constructive prudence and emphasized that the business sector "is prepared, with planning capacity, response, and a long-term vision to face scenarios of uncertainty."
In that context, Marranzini highlighted that the private sector maintains a strategic vision of development, reflected in the Tenth Business Convention, and emphasized the role of the Indicators Platform as a key tool to monitor those commitments, and that serves as a compass that allows translating the proposals into concrete results of economic and social well-being.
He also emphasized that the international context, characterized by geopolitical tensions, volatility in commodity prices, and more restrictive financial conditions, affects internal costs and limits the capacity for growth, so "the country does not face a supply problem, but a challenge of costs and efficiency, which requires addressing key areas to increase internal competitiveness."
As the executive vice president of CONEP, Cesar Dargam, highlighted: "The Dominican economy maintains solid foundations, and can overcome the current context if dynamism is promoted through the execution of public investment and the streamlining of the corresponding authorization processes."
Business Perspective
During the presentation, Dargam identified areas of focus to raise internal competitiveness. In terms of employment, he pointed out that informality stood at 54.2%, its lowest point in five years. Regarding the bureaucratic burden, he cited projections from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank indicating that a small and medium-sized Latin American company spends 1,577 hours annually on paperwork, with an average cost of US$4,000 to formalize a company. In the Dominican case, the optimization of procedures has already generated savings equivalent to 1.3% of GDP. In the fiscal sphere, a study by the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT) revealed that ITBIS only collects 37% of its potential, positioning the Dominican Republic in last place among 17 Latin American countries in terms of value-added tax collection efficiency. 44% of the gap is attributed to evasion, informality, or smuggling. Additionally, with 86.7% of the spending already committed and debt interest (22.3% of the 2026 budget) exceeding the educational allocation, the CONEP pointed out that the operational efficiency of the State is not an option, but an imperative to guarantee capital expenditure.Strengths and Roadmap
CONEP highlighted as structural strengths of the country the diversification of its energy matrix, which incorporates 21.9% renewable energy; the leadership of the tourism sector in the region; the dynamism of free zones; and the resilience of the Dominican industrial sector to external shocks. Looking ahead, the organization outlined three strategic axes: the promotion of business integrity and transparency through the CER Platform; the strengthening of the public-private partnership to create solutions that enhance competitiveness; and progress towards the goals of the X Business Convention by 2028.
