WTO agrees to extension

[NewsWhore]

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has extended the incentives that the DR grants to free trade zones for eight more years. The exemptions and incentives were due to expire in December 2009, but the Dominican authorities and those from other affected countries lobbied and succeeded at extending the program through 2015. Luisa Fernandez, head of the National Free Trade Zone Council, said that the extension will bring a new dimension to FTZs. She explained that four multi-national businesses have already contacted the council about potentially doing business in the DR. She added that DR-CAFTA is already playing a role in bringing businesses to the DR. The incentives program is a welcome development for FTZs in the light of the hard-to-beat competition from China, especially in the textile market, which has led to an estimated 60,000 job losses. Hoy writes that in the first quarter of the year, free trade sector exports fell by 12.2% compared to a 3.1% decrease for the same period in 2006. Also exports decreased by 8.6% between January and March after only falling 1.8% last year. The incentives include exemptions on income tax, construction taxes and duties of import of raw materials and machinery.
www.wto.org/english/news_e/news07_e/scm_july07_e.htm (http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news07_e/scm_july07_e.htm)

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