Santo Domingo.- The president of the National Council of Private Enterprise (Conep), Celso Juan Marranzini, highlighted the advances that the Dominican Republic has consolidated in strategic areas such as manufacturing, exports, logistics infrastructure, energy, tourism and foreign investment, while acknowledging the efforts of the government of President Luis Abinader to continue strengthening national competitiveness and the strategic relationship with the United States.
During his intervention, Marranzini stated that the country has managed to position itself in a differentiated way in Latin America thanks to its stability, economic diversification, productive capacity and international confidence.
Marranzini spoke in these terms within the framework of the celebration of the 63rd anniversary of Conep and National Private Enterprise Day, which was attended by President Luis Abinader and international speaker Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, who analyzed the trends that are redefining the international order and its implications for countries such as the Dominican Republic.
“But before looking outward, it is worth recognizing what the Dominican Republic has been able to consolidate for decades. We see it in our manufacturing, in increasingly diversified exports, in a logistics infrastructure that connects us with the world, in a more modern energy matrix and in historical levels of foreign investment that reflect international confidence in our country,” said Marranzini.
Likewise, he maintained that while much of Latin America faces a stage of low growth, the Dominican Republic continues to stand out for its ability to generate confidence and sustained growth.
“And upon observing those advances, we must recognize that while Latin America faces a low-growth trap marked by the stagnation of its productivity, the world continues to look at the Dominican Republic in a different way. And that doesn’t happen by chance. It happens because the country has managed to build stability, economic diversification, productive capacity, and trust,” he expressed.
The president of Conep also indicated that international organizations such as the Harvard Growth Lab project the Dominican Republic among the
economies with the greatest potential for per capita capital growth over the next decade, being the only nation in Latin America and the Caribbean included in that group.
In that sense, he acknowledged the efforts that the government of President Luis Abinader has been making to continue strengthening the strategic relationship with the United States, the country’s main trading partner, and to take advantage of the opportunities arising from the reorganization of global supply chains and the growth of industries such as medical devices, specialized manufacturing, and technological services.
Marranzini stated that the private sector has been a fundamental actor in the economic, institutional, and social transformation of the Dominican Republic since the founding of the guild 63 years ago and added that it is not a group isolated from society, but rather represents millions of Dominicans who work, undertake, innovate, and generate opportunities for the country’s development.
He indicated that the private sector is made up of small businesses, young entrepreneurs, farmers, industrialists, merchants, and independent professionals who, together, generate 85% of the gross domestic product (GDP), 90% of investments, and 86% of jobs in the Dominican Republic.
Likewise, he maintained that free enterprise represents the right of every citizen to transform their effort into progress and assured that Conep was born precisely to defend that freedom and promote a democratic, open and institutional society.
Marranzini considered it necessary to promote reforms aimed at improving national competitiveness, including strengthening education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as addressing structural challenges related to informality, the electrical system, and territorial planning. “And precisely for that reason, initiatives such as the National Development Strategy and Meta-RD 2036 acquire so much relevance,” he indicated.
Finally, the president of Conep expressed that the main asset of the Dominican Republic is its people, whom he defined as a young, hardworking, resilient population with a great capacity for learning, while calling for building national consensus that allow the country to become one of the most dynamic and prosperous economies in Latin America.
