NewsWhore
03-09-2007, 03:20 PM
The bill presented by the Dominican Republic Association of Industries (AIRD) at the closing ceremony of their First Congress has sparked opposing reactions. Consultant Roberto Despradel argues that a tax breaks similar to ones in the countries that the Dominican Republic is competing with is what is needed. Despradel said that the challenges brought on by DR-CAFTA oblige the government to embark on an action plan that will guarantee the industrial sector's competitiveness. Despradel continued by saying that industries need to act, not react, and they are doing so by providing a bill that changes an internal structure and develops strategic alliances. Industries say that their survival in a hypercompetitive world is at risk due to the high cost of energy, high taxes, transport monopolies, inefficiencies at seaports and lack of financing. The industrial sector called on the government to fulfill the Electricity Law. "The critical power situation threatens to shut down many of our industries. The relief that the Electricity Law provided to non-regulated users is now under the threat of being blown away by the state regulating agency that resists implementing the Electricity Law, Manuel Diez Cabral stated at the conference. "It is unfortunate that we have expensive cargo transport systems, due to monopolistic practices, as in the case of ground transport," he commented. He was also critical of the tax burden. "It is not true that the tax burden in this country is low; for taxpayers, it is simply very high, the historic result of inefficient government spending and tax collection that concentrates on a small number of taxpayers," he stated. He criticized the fact that there had been six tax reforms in five years, and the fivefold increase of the government budget, at the expense of the country's capacity to compete.
He stressed that the time has come to meet the challenges of DR-CAFTA and expressed hope that the country would not suffer the negative effects of preceding trade agreements this time around.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)
He stressed that the time has come to meet the challenges of DR-CAFTA and expressed hope that the country would not suffer the negative effects of preceding trade agreements this time around.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)