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Category: News 2

Pre-clearance Coming to Punta Cana International Airport

Punta Cana could soon become the first Dominican airport to offer pre-clearance facilities for entering the United States. This means that passengers flying out through PUJ would clear US immigration and customs in the Dominican Republic, allowing for an expedited entry into the United States. The facility at the present time is offered in 15 international airports around the world.

Successful Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) preclearance programs are in place in Dublin and Shannon (Ireland); Aruba; Freeport and Nassau in The Bahamas; Bermuda; Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Winnipeg in Canada; and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

[July 2015]

Guzmán Ariza Invested as Member of the Spanish Royal Academy

Fabio J. Guzmán Ariza was recognized as a corresponding member of the Spanish Royal Academy (Real Academia Española), the  premier authority in the world on Spanish language usage, at a ceremony held in Santo Domingo at the Dominican Academy of Letters (Academia Dominicana de la Lengua).

Bruno Rosario Candelier, executive director of the Dominican Academy of Letters praised Mr. Guzmán’s for his many publications on Spanish language issues and for his commitment to improving the quality of  legal drafting in Dominican official documents.

[July 2015]

Travel up 8.7 % in June

Travel to the DR in June has consistently increased. In 2013, the total number of travelers arriving to the Punta Cana International Airport in June was 431,554, increasing to 480,847 in 2014 and now to 522,490 in June 2015.

Also, there has been a steady growth per month this year: January (7.5%), February (7.2%), March (7.3%), April (3.8%), May (8.1%), June (8.7%).

Punta Cana is leading as the preferred leisure destination, according to the Central Bank Statistics Department.

[July 2015]

DR Has More Than 400,000 Businesses

The Dominican Republic has around 410,000 businesses, including both formal and informal businesses, according to a survey prepared by the office of Small Business (Pymes) at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Retail shops and stores account for more than 40 % of the businesses across Peravia, La Romana and Espaillat. In La Romana, firms involved in tourism next account for 11.4% of businesses surveyed. While in Peravia and Espaillat, beauty parlors and barber shops are second in importance, with 14.2 % and 12.2%, respectively.

Colmados selling food and beverage prevail, while betting parlors make up 12% of the small businesses in these provinces.

The results of the complete nationwide survey are expected to be available by the end of the year.

[July 2015]

Tourism grew 7.5 % in 2014

The Central Bank reports that tourism growth of 7.5 % of GDP in 2014 was 3.6 % greater than in 2013. The Central Bank attributes the growth of the sector to a 9.6 % increase in non-resident passenger arrivals. There was also a 3.1 % increase in the national hotel room inventory, with 2,060 new rooms added this year. The Central Bank says that tourism receipts increased by 11.3 %, with tourism contributing an estimated US$5.64 billion to the economy in 2014.

[February 2015]

 

Illegal Immigrants Will be Deported

José Ricardo Taveras, Head of the Immigration Department, has reiterated that foreigners who do not comply with the National Legalization Plan face possible deportation.

Mr. Taveras added that the intent is not to identify and deport illegal immigrants, but to offer clear guidelines on how to go about acquiring legal status in the Dominican Republic. However, he stressed that those who do not choose to regularize their status or leave voluntarily will be expelled from the Dominican Republic.

[April 2014]

Code of Penal Procedure Amended

The Senate of the Dominican Republic approved over 70 changes to the Code of Penal Procedure recently, stripping away many provisions that were considered too lenient toward the accused in criminal proceedings. Under the bill, still pending enactment by the President, judges may issue search warrants to be executed at night, and order up to 24 months of preventive custody against the accused, instead of the present 12-month limit. A very controversial provision takes away the right of ordinary citizens to file complaints against public officials for corruption.

[March 2014]

New Tax Incentives for the Dominican Tourism Industry

President Medina recently signed into law an amendment to Tourism Incentive and Promotion Law # 158-01. Law # 195-13 expands the scope of tax incentives for the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic to all tourist destinations on the island, and extends exemptions under the law from 10 to 15 years, among other benefits.

For more details, please click here.

[March 2014]

Single Window Facility for International Trade

The Customs Department has announced a pilot plan for a one-stop shop facility for international trade starting in mid-March 2014. Several public and private entities will need to synchronize their computer systems for the facility to be fully operational. The pilot program will involve four government departments: Treasury, Agriculture, Public Health and Taxes.

[March 2014]