No unique pathway to development exists. Each country’s experience sheds light on what key factors explain success in different contexts and historical moments, including what role institutions and policies might have played.
In a complex and fast-changing global landscape, anticipating and adapting quickly to changes is critical to sustain growth and ensure that it benefits all of society. This is even more so true now that the COVID-19 outbreak has plunged countries worldwide in an unprecedented health emergency, giving rise to steep economic challenges.
Since 2017, the Production Transformation Policy Reviews (PTPRs) have supported governments in transforming their economies through policies, making them more resilient, green, and inclusive.
Throughout the last decade, the Dominican Republic has been the fastest growing economy in Latin America and the Caribbean. Despite its success, the country still runs the risk of becoming an enclave economy where a highly productive and export-oriented sector permanently co-exists with informal and low productive activities. Furthermore, with an economy relying on tourism, remittances and foreign direct investment (FDI), the country is highly exposed to the consequences of the current pandemic and global recession. It is therefore of outmost importance that, while facing the health emergency, the country also takes steps to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis and set the basis to progress towards more sustainable and inclusive development.
The Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR) of the Dominican Republic adopts a forward-looking framework to assess the country’s readiness to embrace change and identifies priorities for future reforms. It looks with particular attention to the future of agro-food and nearshoring industries, which the ongoing global crisis might significantly affect. More broadly, this report contributes to the debate on strategic and long-run policy planning, and the importance of policy making to reduce vulnerability, increase resilience, and cushion the impact of external shocks in the economy.
Mario Pezzini
Director, OECD Development Centre and Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary-General on Development
Mario Cimoli
Deputy Executive Secretary, ECLAC
Richard Kozul-Wright
Director, Globalisation and Sustainable Development, UNCTAD