Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is located on the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean bordering Haiti. The Dominican Republic is about twice the size of New Hampshire and covers an area of48,730sq. kilometers. The total population is 10.22million and is growing at a rate of 1.28% with 69% living in urban areas. The capital of Santo Domingo has a population of 2.25 with other main cities including Santiago (908,000), and resort town Punta Cana. The people are governed by a democratic republic and are predominately Roman Catholic. The primary language is Spanish, and the local currency is the Dominican Peso.

The Dominican economy has had trouble with political instability in the past but in the past 5 years has become more stable and has experienced steady economic growth. The Dominican Republic has long been an exporter of agricultural products like sugar and coffee but lately has seen increased revenues from tourism and other service sectors. Its main trade partner is the US accounting for 66% of exports and 46% of imports. Other major trade partners include Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Belgium, and Finland. Its primary imports are foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Exports include ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats, and consumer goods. Dominican Republic’s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is $98.74 billion and is growing at a real rate of 4% with an inflation rate of 3.7%. Dominican Republic ranked 116 out of 185 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking.

Viva Global Expansion! Trade Mission to Latin America (2012)Click the links below for articles with more information on Franchising in Dominican Republic

Latin American Market Sizzles with U.S. Franchisors (2012)

Doing Business in Dominican Republic(2012)

US Commercial Service Market Report Dominican Republic(2008)

* CPI Score is published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

**Ease of Doing Business Ranking is determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 185 countries. www.doingbusiness.org

Most recent statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless noted otherwise.

International Franchising Opportunities

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