NewsWhore
08-25-2008, 03:20 PM
Despite the fact that foreign investment in the Dominican Republic has increased over the past few years, this could have grown even more if there were better judicial guarantees and less red tape. Both issues, combined with the lack of reliability and reasonable pricing of electricity, place the country at a disadvantage compared to other nations and as a result, lead to the loss of millions in capital from businesses that prefer not to venture into the local market. According to Central Bank figures, foreign investment has reached US$1.69 billion, of which US$723.3 million came from the real estate sector. Tourism was in second place with US$445 million, followed by telecommunications with US$417 million. For the first quarter of this year, the flow of capital that arrived from overseas was US$1.06 billion and according to estimates from the director of the Foreign Investment Enterprises Association (ASIEX), Pablo Linares, the total could reach US$2.5 billion by the end of the year.
Linares reminded Diario Libre reporters that, "the first thing an investor asks for is macro-economic stability, an exchange rate that reflects the reality of the market, and an important part of this is judicial and personal security." Even though he understands that in the Dominican case there is judicial security, he said that one cannot fail to mention the Chevron case where the company is affected by a conflict with the tanker and driver unions that have a monopoly on transporting the fuel. He warned, "We must always be careful of the image that is projected overseas and affects efforts that are being made to attract investments."
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)
Linares reminded Diario Libre reporters that, "the first thing an investor asks for is macro-economic stability, an exchange rate that reflects the reality of the market, and an important part of this is judicial and personal security." Even though he understands that in the Dominican case there is judicial security, he said that one cannot fail to mention the Chevron case where the company is affected by a conflict with the tanker and driver unions that have a monopoly on transporting the fuel. He warned, "We must always be careful of the image that is projected overseas and affects efforts that are being made to attract investments."
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)