Asonahores predicts RD could receive between 60 thousand and 100 thousand tourists in July
SANTO DOMINGO. - With the approval of the operating protocol for tourism sector, the country would receive between 60,000 y 100,000 tourist for the month of July, he assured Andres Marranzini, Executive Vice President of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (asonahores), who pointed out that the entrance of tourists does not represent a difference from the point of view of the risk of contagion of the coronavirus COVID-19.
"All scientists indicate that once there is community transmission, the risk is exactly the same. In other words, it does not present a difference for the Dominican Republic from the point of view of risk, ”he pointed out when participating in the webinar "After COVID-19: recovering exports and generating foreign exchange", organized by the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) and the Dominican Observatory of International Trade (ODCI).
However, Marranzini clarified that for this to happen everything has to evolve de positive way and messages outside the country have to be coordinated. Furthermore, on the international frameworkHe said that the sector will need a little more of helps, and it is very likely that it will not be 100% operational capacity beyond 2020. He stressed that the tiempo what do you estimate for the recuperación it is between 13 and 18 months, "We would have to go through 2021 to recover numbers close to 2018, which were our last best historical numbers," he stressed.
Free zone sector
In the virtual meeting, which was moderated by the economist Pavel Isa, research professor at INTEC and director of ODCI, José Manuel Torres, Executive Vice President of the Dominican Association of Free Zones (Cobblestone), highlighted that until May 2020 the exports de free trade zone fell un 28.76%However, the figures reflect recovery when compared to the drop of the previous month that was 39.45%.
Regarding the number of jobs, Torres indicated that in February there were a total of 171, 863 employees in operation and as of June 15 the figure stood at 105, 910, which is equivalent to 65,953 employees suspended or not working. In addition, he pointed out that of the 700 companies that had operations, there are currently 601 operating (86%).
How exports have behaved
When evaluating the behavior of exports, Luis Concepcion, President of the Dominican Association of Exporters (adoexpo), pondered that according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in Latin America and the Caribbean the exports se they contracted at an interannual rate estimated at 3.2%, in the first quarter of the 2020, having fallen 2.2% in 2019.
He maintained that, in the country, the contraction of exports began to be felt in the month of March with a fall of 4.53% of the total, compared to the same month last year, going from 866.97 million dollars to 827.64 million.
The Adoexpo executive pondered that, to stimulate the recovery of the export sector, greater public-private coordination will be necessary. “The future prospects depend on several unknowns that characterize the evolution of trade flows in the post-COVID-19 economy, such as, for example, the rates of opening of trade partners, the risks that new waves of contagion will drive new orders for confinement and the heterogeneity of the economic and commercial effects ”.
In an interview previously recorded and broadcast on the webinar, Motherland Bobea, executive director of the Association of Foreign Investment Companies (ASIEX), highlighted that the income of foreign investment in the Dominican Republic is around 2,500 million dollars and that income level can be affected by the pandemic.
“We visualize the decrease in these revenues because globally there has been a significant impact on the companies' cash flow, specifically due to a reduction in demand, taking into account the impact that the closure of the border has had, that exports they have been beaten ”, explained Bobea.
Finally, Hugo rivera, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX), pointed out that the country has challenges in the commercial part in: need to accelerate the processes of digital transformation in local companies, measure the damage caused to micro and small companies and the conjugation of the health crisis with the electoral, congressional and presidential process.
On the advantages and opportunities, he said that in the mining sector there are stranded projects that can compensate for the situation, citing that the free zones can be a major producer of medical equipment to counter shortages in the region and the acceleration of a set of public policies that can drive investment attraction.