Production Transformation Policy Review of the Dominican Republic
Preserving Growth, Achieving Resilience
The Dominican Republic, though the fastest-growing economy in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2010, cannot afford complacency. The COVID-19 crisis may accelerate existing global trends that created the need for reforms addressing structural weaknesses that lurked beneath the surface well before the pandemic. The current situation demands an unpreceded policy effort to ensure a prompt and effective health response, and to guarantee short-term support for workers and firms. The enduring challenge will be updating the country’s development model through targeted reforms. The Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR) of the Dominican Republic identifies priority reforms to update the national strategy, with perspectives on agro-food and nearshoring. It benefitted from peer review from the United States Reshoring Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil.
Elements for a forward-looking policy agenda in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic has developed a national development strategy to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth by 2030. The national development model based on special economic regimes that has been driving growth since the 1960s, requires an update, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter assesses current policies to transform the economy and identifies avenues for reforms based on the PTPR peer review process.