The Dominican Association of Free Zones (Adozona) and the National Council of Export Free Zones (CNZFE) highlighted the importance of innovation, human talent training, and competitiveness as pillars for the sector’s evolution toward Free Zones 4.0, during a seminar-workshop held at the Caribbean University (Unicaribe).
The activity, organized by Unicaribe Executive Programs, brought together authorities, business leaders, and national and international specialists to analyze the challenges and opportunities facing the Dominican Republic in light of the new configuration of global value chains.
The president of Adozona, Claudia Pellerano, highlighted the strategic role of free trade zones in the generation of formal jobs, the attraction of investments, the growth of exports, and the development of more complex productive activities.
Pellerano explained that the current international scenario requires the sector to compete beyond costs, incorporating factors such as productivity, logistics, innovation, compliance with standards, and the availability of specialized talent.
In that sense, he pointed out the need to strengthen the preparation of technicians, supervisors, and middle management to respond to the demands of industries such as medical devices, advanced manufacturing, electronics, automation, logistics, and global services.
More Read
The business leader stated that the transition towards Free Trade Zones 4.0 represents an opportunity to increase the added value of national production and consolidate the Dominican Republic as a regional platform for advanced manufacturing, technology, and services.
For his part, the executive director of the CNZFE, Johannes Kelner, valued the initiative as a contribution to the country’s productive transformation and highlighted that the sector has a consolidated base of industrial parks, companies, workers, and export capabilities.
Kelner indicated that the challenge lies in moving towards more sophisticated operations, with greater technological integration and knowledge, for which he considered it fundamental to maintain a competitive regulatory climate and strengthen the alliance between government, the private sector, and academia.
More Read
Likewise, he stated that free trade zones can contribute decisively to the RD 2036 Goal, through the increase of exports, productivity, formal employment, and innovation.
The keynote speech was delivered by engineer Juan Opertti, an international specialist in free trade zones, logistics, foreign trade, and global value chains, who proposed that Free Trade Zones 4.0 must become integrated ecosystems of investment, production, technology, innovation, logistics, and high value-added services.
During his presentation, he addressed trends such as nearshoring, offshoring, foreign direct investment, artificial intelligence, automation, supply chain management, and the speed-to-market model.
Opertti highlighted that international companies are looking to reduce risks, diversify suppliers, and locate operations in countries with institutional stability, infrastructure, market access, and responsiveness, conditions that represent a strategic opportunity for the Dominican Republic.
The seminar-workshop is part of the Unicaribe Executive Programs proposal, led by academic Enrique Darwin Caraballo, who highlighted the university’s commitment to linking executive training with the needs of the national productive sector.
Caraballo pointed out that academia must play an active role in talent development, innovation, and the coordination between the State, companies, and educational centers to drive economic development.
The event was also attended by the National Director of Competitiveness, Peter Prazmowski; the Executive Vice President of Adozona, José Manuel Torres; the Chancellor of Unicaribe, José Alejandro Aybar M.; members of the university’s Board of Directors, and representatives of the free trade zone sector.
With this initiative, Unicaribe reaffirms its commitment to placing knowledge and specialized training at the service of national competitiveness and the productive transformation driven by the RD 2036 Goal.
