The Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR) of the Dominican Republic is the result of a 15‑month in-depth policy review and consensus-building process.
The report has been produced by the OECD Development Centre in co‑operation with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The report and the PTPR process have come together under the strategic guidance of Annalisa Primi, Head of the Structural Policies and Innovation Unit at the OECD Development Centre. Keith Nurse, President of Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and Senior Advisor to the Head of Structural Policies and Innovation Unit at the OECD Development Centre (from July to October 2019) contributed as senior lead analyst in the process. Manuel Toselli, Economist at the OECD Development Centre acted as PTPR co-ordinator and main analyst. Piergiuseppe Fortunato, Economic Affairs Officer (UNCTAD) and Nicolo Gligo, Economic Affairs Officer (ECLAC) led UNCTAD and ECLAC participation in the process respectively. Elisabeth Lambrecht and Vasiliki Mavroeidi contributed to the drafting. The report benefited from comments from Nadim Ahmad, Wanda Montero Cuello, Juan Vasquez (from OECD), and Alvaro Calderon, Marco Dini y Sebastian Herreros (ECLAC). Antonela Leiva and Jocelene Fouassier provided administrative support. Delphine Grandrieux co-ordinated the publication process. Aida Buendia and Irit Perry handled graphics for the report, which also benefited from editing by Carter Dougherty.
The authors are thankful to Rafael Paz, Executive Director of the CNC at the time of the implementation of the PTPR for leading the process and consensus-building activities in the Dominican Republic. Laura del Castillo, Executive Director of the CNC ad Interim as of March 2020, has taken up the project leadership. We are immensely grateful for her guidance and flexibility. The authors thank Minister of Industry, Trade Micro and SMEs (MICM) Nelson Toca for sharing knowledge, experience and support during the entire process and for participating in 13th Plenary Meetings in Cairo (Egypt) and sharing the experience of the Dominican Republic and the PTPR with the OECD Initiative on Global Value Chains (GVCs), Production Transformation and Development. We are also grateful to the former Minister of Economy and Planning (MEPyD) Isidoro Santana. The PTPR has benefited from the commitment and contribution of the Local Team led by Laura del Castillo. We are grateful to Rosario González Plaza and Hector Comas for the excellent organisational support. The Dominican Republic diplomatic authorities in France have been essential in ensuring effective project implementation and smooth contact with local counterparts. We are thankful to Ambassador Rosa Hernández de Grullón and particularly to the first secretary Melissa Marcelino.
Leveraging the wisdom and insights of colleagues around the world lies at the heart of the PTPR process. The PTPR of the Dominican Republic has been shaped and enriched by the contributions of international peers who actively participated in the field missions and contributed ideas to the review. We are grateful to Ambassador Carlos Márcio Cozendey, Daniela Arruda Benjamin and João Marcelo Conte Cornetet for the support and interest in the PTPR process. We thank the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil and in particular Mariane Crespolini, Director of Sustainable Production and Irrigation, for participating as peer in the process. We are also grateful to the Reshoring Institute of the United States for participating as peer, in particular Rosemary Coates, Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of the Institute.
Valuable input originated at the PTPR Peer Learning Group hosted by the Government of Peru in April 2019, which saw the participation of 48 high-level representatives from 12 countries, 4 business associations and companies, 5 universities, 5 international organisations and 3 OECD directorates. We are thankful to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru; Luca Turello, Head of Agronomy Procurement Department, Illy; Isabella Falco, Director Department of Country Image of Promperu, Peru; Brian Daigle, International Trade Analyst at U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) United States:; Johannes Dobinger, Representative in the Andean Region, UNIDO; Martin Peter, Director for Economic Development in Peru, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Switzerland; Charles Wessner, Professor of Global Innovation Policy, Georgetown University, United States; and Karl‑Christian Göthner, Senior Expert, German National Metrology Institute (PTB), Germany.
The PTPR is the result of an extensive and open consultation with diverse stakeholders in the Dominican Republic.
Two meetings of Task Force on Production Transformation steered the PTPR process. They were co-chaired by the CNC and MICM and composed by representatives from key government and implementation agencies, including MEPYD, the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI), the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCYT), the Industrial Development and Competitiveness Centre (PROINDUSTRIA), the Export and Investments Centre of the Dominican Republic (CEI-RD), the Industrial Property Right National Office (ONAPI) and the National Council of Free Trade Zones (CNZFE). The private sector participated to the task force with the National Council of Private Enterprise (CONEP), the Dominican Industrial Association (AIRD), the Agro Entrepreneurial Board (JAD) and the Dominican Association of Free Zones (ADOZONA).
Two round tables for production transformation in the Dominican Republic. Participants discussed strategies, policy tools, and partnerships needed for sustaining the Dominican agro-food industry and to fostering nearshoring activities at two separate roundtables. Both events brought together 40 representatives of private and public sectors each. Strategic partners and leading companies have been key in sharing their views about the future and shaping the content of this report; in particular we thank the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (AMCHAMRD), Medtronic, Consorcio Citricos Dominicanos, Rica Group, and Rizek Cacao.
Semi-structured interviews with more than 50 experts from business, government and academia in the Dominican Republic have been extremely relevant in shaping the report. In addition to the people mentioned above, we acknowledge the time and contributions of (by institutional alphabetical order): AIRD: Carlos Rodríguez Alvarez; CEI-RD: Marius de Leon, Tamara Vasquez and Victor Encarnacion; CNZFE: Luisa Fernandez Duran and Yarisol López; DGII: Hamlet Gutierrez; Grupo Rica Horacio Lombas; IDIAF: Rafael Pérez Duvergé; IIBI: Agripina Ramirez Sánchez; JAD: Claudia Chez; MEPYD: Isidoro Santana (Minister) and Martin Franco; MESCYT: Placido Gomez; MICM: the Vice-ministers Ignacio Méndez Fernández, Juan Tomás Monegro, Yahaira Sosa Machado and Marcelo Puello Avalo; MINAGRI: Osmar Benitez (Minister); Ministry of the Presidency: Zoraima Cuello and Diana Rivas Reyes; ONAPI: Ruth Alexandra Lockward; PROINDUSTRIA: Alma Fernández and Wilfredo Oliver.
Finally, this report would have not been possible without the contribution of key bodies in the Dominican Republic, in particular of CNC and MICM.