Advanced manufacturing now accounts for more than 50 percent of all free zone exports from the Dominican Republic, marking a major transformation in the country's trade profile over the past eight years.
Industry, Commerce and MSMEs Minister Eduardo Sanz Lovatón announced the shift on Tuesday during the Free Zones, Zones of Opportunities event in Santo Domingo, which was attended by President Luis Abinader.
Free zones are special economic areas that offer tax incentives and streamlined customs regulations to foreign and domestic companies, serving as a critical engine of economic activity and employment across the Caribbean region.
Sanz Lovatón explained that eight years ago, traditional textiles dominated the sector, representing 55 percent of all shipments sent abroad from Dominican export processing zones.
Today, medical devices alone account for 35 percent of total free zone exports, while electronic supplies and components make up another 15 percent.
The minister stated that combining these high-tech sectors with agro-industrial exports demonstrates how fundamentally the national export matrix has transformed.
To support this industrial transition, Sanz Lovatón announced the launch of more than 15,000 scholarships for digital skills training through an initiative called TalentUp.
The educational program receives technical and financial backing from the Inter-American Development Bank alongside technology multinationals Google Cloud and Cisco.
Sanz Lovatón noted that the government has already registered more than 14,000 applications from young people seeking free instruction under the scheme.
The program offers tuition-free training in emerging technologies, cloud storage, and cybersecurity, aiming to prepare graduates to fill specialized staffing needs at operating companies.
Economic Impact and Value Addition
Speaking at the same event, Dominican Association of Free Zones president Claudia Pellerano agreed that the sector is increasingly diversified and integrated into global value chains.
The Dominican Association of Free Zones, known locally as Adozona, is the primary industry body representing private park developers and tenant companies operating throughout the nation's free zones.
Pellerano explained that manufacturing growth rests heavily on medical devices, electrical products, and electronics, as well as traditional categories such as textiles, footwear, tobacco, and rum.
She added that logistics services and contact centers have also emerged as vital pillars supporting the broader free zone framework.
Driven by these expanding products and services, free zone exports contributed 8.5 billion dollars to the Dominican economy by the end of 2025.
The sector generated more than 200,000 direct jobs across 858 active companies by the end of last year.
These operations added economic value equivalent to 8.1 percent of the Dominican Republic's gross domestic product in 2025.
Gross domestic product measures the total monetary value of all final goods and services produced within a country over a specific time period.
Pellerano highlighted that for every single peso of tax expenditure granted to free zones, the sector generated 15 pesos in added value for the national economy.
The executive stated that this economic momentum has continued into 2026, with free zone exports accumulating 4.4 percent growth between January and August.
She noted that this growth demonstrates the resilience of free zone businesses in the face of a complex and challenging global geopolitical environment.
Technology Adoption and Nearshoring Trends
Fernando Ocampo, coordinator of the Inter-American Development Bank's America at the Center initiative, emphasized the global technological shifts driving changes in industrial production.
The Inter-American Development Bank is the main source of multilateral financing for economic, social, and institutional development across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ocampo explained that the rapid growth of new technologies and the expanding implementation of artificial intelligence have transformed standard industrial operations worldwide.
He noted that companies deploying artificial intelligence report operational cost reductions of up to 60 percent.
This technological integration comes during a global wave of supply chain relocation toward nearshoring and friendshoring, where firms move operations closer to home or to politically aligned partner nations.
Ocampo stated that the Dominican Republic is positioned well in its national Meta RD 2036 strategy, which targets doubling average economic growth over the next ten years.
He explained that the TalentUp program will directly support that national objective by drastically shrinking the talent gap between corporate hiring needs and worker skills.
Ocampo observed that specialized human talent acts as the true magnet for foreign direct investment.
He cited global data showing that 87 percent of executives worldwide consider having personnel trained in digital skills to be their single main success factor.
Corporate leaders attending the event echoed Ocampo's assessment of digital workforce development.
Caroline Heidrich Seibert, business development executive for Latin America and the Caribbean at Cisco, detailed her company's backing for the initiative.
Gabriel Alvarado, commercial director of Google Cloud for the public sector in Latin America, also detailed his organization's support for the educational scheme.
Both executives affirmed their commitment to the initiative granting more than 15,000 scholarships to build human capital capable of using artificial intelligence and new technologies strategically inside commercial enterprises.
