The Industrial Free Zones began their development in the Dominican Republic in 1969 with the installation of an Industrial Free Zone in the city of La Romana.
This first zone was promoted by the transnational company Gulf and Western Americas Corporation, which had been operating in the country primarily in the sugar sector since 1967, the year in which it acquired the plant owned by the South Porto Rico Sugar Company.
This first free zone park was installed just one year after the enactment of Law 299 on “Industrial Incentive and Protection”. This legislation is the one that established important stimuli in terms of tax exemptions for companies that from now on were established in the free industrial zones and dedicated their production to export.
The second industrial free zone was created in 1972 under the auspices of the public sector through the Industrial Development Corporation (IFC), a decentralized state entity that is currently in charge of its administration and operation. This second area is located in the city of San Pedro de Macorís.
In 1973 another industrial free zone emerged in the city of Santiago de los Caballeros and was created by the public sector but, unlike San Pedro de Macorís, the administration and operation of the same was delegated to a non-profit corporation created for that purpose, under the direction of experienced entrepreneurs from the northern region.
Law 8-90 on the Promotion of Free Zones
The purpose of this Law is to encourage the establishment of new free zones and the growth of existing ones, regulating their operation and development, defining the bases for identifying goals and objectives that are of national interest, in order to achieve an adequate coordination of the actions of the public and private sectors to achieve the proposed purposes.