Title: Dominican Republic Country Information
1Dominican Republic Country Information
- Population - 8,581,477 (July 2001 est.)
- Capitol - Santo Domingo
- Other cities -Santiago de los Caballeros
(Santiago), La Romana - Primary Language - Spanish
- Date of Independence -1865
- GDP/capita -purchasing power parity - 5,700
(2000 est.) - (has a highly skewed distribution of income,
approx. two million Dominicans still live in
poverty) - Major colonial powers -Spain, France
2Map of the Caribbean
3Map of the Dominican Republic
4Project goal
- To explore the primary factors available to the
Dominican Republic for its development
5Human Capital as a Factor of Development
- The population of the Dominican Republic, if well
utilized may bring about significant economic and
social growth. - One way of taking advantage of this factor of
development is through education.
6The accumulation of human capital through
education
- Today, many Dominicans in rural areas are unable
to obtain a satisfactory tertiary education. - Those able to achieve higher levels of education
tend to migrate out of the rural areas leaving
behind the most disadvantaged, creating in the
process entrenched pockets of poverty. The
World Bank Group
7Some figures relating to the state of D.Rs human
capital.
- Pregnancy has become the leading cause of death
among adolescent girls in the Dominican Republic
according to the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA). Nearly 25 of girls aged 15 to 19 are
either pregnant or have already given birth, yet
access to reproductive health services is limited
outside the major cities, putting these young
mothers at risk. - Public expenditure on education
- As a of GDP 2.2
- As a of total government expenditure 13.8
8Poverty Reduction and Education
- Today, almost 85 of poor household heads have
not completed primary education. - Almost 30 of poor household heads have no
education whatsoever, facing enormous opportunity
constraints even within a growing economy. - While the educational attainment of the younger
generation is higher than that of their parents,
enrollment in secondary education remains low,
when compared to other middle income countries.
9Poverty Reduction and Education (Contd)
- Throughout the 1990s the returns on education for
workers who have only attained primary education
remain low. - This trend is likely to continue given the strong
influx of Haitian immigrants, providing
low-skilled labor with low reservation wages. - Significant poverty reduction will involve a
focus on areas of public policy such as - education, adequate provision of property rights,
and family planning.
10EDUCATION
- Structure of the Educational System
- Primary School lasts for 6yrs and is compulsory
- In secondary education two systems are in
operation - Traditional System- consists of a 6yr cycle
divided into a two-year intermediate cycle and a
four-year second cycle - Reform system- studies last for six years,
divided into two cycles. The first cycle (Ciclo
Básico) is a four-year cycle with an emphasis on
science. The second cycle (Ciclo Superior) lasts
for two years and offers a greater choice of
specializations than the traditional system.
11EDUCATION OVER THE LAST DECADE
- In the last decade, educational reform activities
in the Dominican Republic have resulted in
increased enrollments, a reduced dropout rate,
and greater access to education for low-income
children. - Equity remains a challenge
- Particularly for children in rural areas where
where grade repetition and drop-out rates are
higher than in urban areas.
12What does the Dominican Republic need to improve
its education system?
- Increased public and private sector expenditures
on education - NOTE Only this month the IDB(Inter-American
Development Bank) approved an 80 million loan
for a basic education program in the Dominican
Republic. - Purpose of the loan
- -To support the first phase of a program to
improve equity in basic education in the
Dominican Republic by focusing on schools and
students in rural and marginal urban areas.
13Seers Model for Development
- According to Seers, the term development must
take into consideration 3 factors - Inequality
- Poverty
- Unemployment
-
- In the case of the Dominican Republic and the
Caribbean on a whole, any factors that are
expected to develop the country or region must,
according to Seers, have a positive impact on
these 3 aspects of development.
14Education as it relates to development
- The more educated a countrys people are, the
brighter its future. - An educated population attracts FDI (foreign
direct investment) - increased investment in education contributes to
economic efficiency and equity. - investment in the human capital of the poor is
one of the most important tools for reducing
poverty.
15Links between education, women and development
- Educated women have smaller families, fewer of
their children die in infancy and the children
who survive are healthier and better educated. - Educated women are better equipped to enter the
paid labor force. This is critical to the
survival of the many female headed households of
the Caribbean. - Nations with higher levels of female school
enrollment in the past, today show higher levels
of economic productivity, lower fertility, lower
infant and maternal mortality, and longer life
expectancy than countries that have not achieved
as high enrollment levels for girls.
16Are Women a Factor for Development in the
Dominican Republic?
- Gender in the Labor Force
- Women are not educated in technical fields
related to agriculture and industry - The men are educated so as to be hired for
supervisory or professional positions
17Gender in the Labor Force Contd
- Women will earn an income that can and will
support their children and their husband - They are not earning wages that can support the
entire family
18Quote from a Dominican Working Woman
- One woman states I eat lunch the Dominican
main meal every other day, since I have no
money besides, who could eat knowing the
children are home with nothing. I must lock the
children in the house during the 12 hour
workday to keep them safe, with no one to look
after or feed them. My eldest should be in
school, but she must see to the little ones even
in my one-room shack the three year old gets in
trouble. (Interview by Laura Raynolds 20,
December 1989)
19Gender in the labor force contd
- Although agricultural work is considered to be
primarily carried out by men, the women who work
to feed their families see that they are
fundamentally redrawing the parameters of
womens work and establishing a potential basis
for increasing womens economic autonomy.
(Raynolds) - In Sun, Sex, and Gold Globalization, Tourism,
and the International Sex Trade, A number of
writers have pointed out that despite the
economic independence of Jamaican Women and
matrifocality of many households, men are still
perceived to be the dominant of the sexes (
Senior 1991, Powell 1986, Moses 1977). - -This is in comparison to the sex industry
of Jamaica, but it still reestablishes the idea
of female and male inequalities.
20Gender in labor force contd
- Women are the primary factor in the work force,
because they perform most of the labor and yet
they are not rewarded for their work with higher
income so they can support their family - This is a result of Companies profit from
Dominican patriarchal traditions that limit
womens alternatives and make them
disproportionately responsible for home and
family (Raynolds).
21Gender in the labor force contd.
- The new jobs being created are strictly based on
gender - Men are able to have an education they are given
the professional positions in the work place
22And YES, women do continually work in the labor
force, because
- Their income is restricted
- They are continually having more children, which
increases the need for what little income they do
receive - Women make up most of the agricultural and
industrial labor forces, without them production
would be moving at a slower rate
23Womens issues that hamper development.
- Women are constantly victims of Domestic Abuse
- Here are some statistics
- Between November 1st 2000 and October 31st 2001
104 women were murdered, 62 were murdered by a
spouse, and 20 of those had been women who
previously reported domestic violence, but no
help had been given - The year before 86 women were murdered
- Murder is the 6th cause of death for Dominican
women ages 15 to 45 - 1 in 6 homes experience violence
- Due to Domestic violence 80 of women are in who
need of health care - 40 to 50 reports of violence are given to the
Santo Domingo Police Station daily. (In a year
this totals 10,800 reports)
24Results of the Project
- BUT, as a result of these horrendous statistics
two major issues have been addressed to create
new developments for the Dominican Republic - A project was created resulting in
- The government passing amendments to the
Dominican Penal Code in 1997 - It also united 4 major NGOs in the Dominican
Republic (CEDAIL, CENSEL, FISOE, CEPLES) - They are now working together to promote a
better understanding of womens issues to ensure
that women are treated fairly in the home
25Industry key words and phrases
- Free trade zone an area within a country
regarded as being outside its customs
territoryexempt from custom duties and taxes - Nontraditional agriculture 1) all agriculture
exports except sugar, coffee, cocoa, and tobacco
2) agro-industrial commodities for local and
export markets - Sex tourism any travel experience where the
provision of sexual services by the host
population in exchange for monetary and
nonmonetary rewards makes a significant
contribution to the enjoyment of the holiday
itself (Mullings) - CBTPA Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership
Actsignificantly expands preferential treatment
for apparel made in the Caribbean Basin region
(Export Advantage)
26Imports and Exports of Textile and Apparel
Production
- Imports
- Cut apparel parts (pre-made)
- The U.S. accounts for 85 of Dominican textile
imports - Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, and South Korea
- Commodities foodstuff, petroleum, cotton and
fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals
27Textile and Apparel Production (cont.)
- Exports
- Consist largely of finished garments for the U.S.
market - Largely assembled in free trade zones for export
- Export partners of the D.R. are U.S. 87.3,
Netherlands 1.1, Canada 0.7, France 0.7 (2000
est.) - Momsen produces what it doesnt consume,
consumes what it doesnt produce - ?clothing, food, tourism, etc.
28Industries Tourism, Agriculture, and Apparel
- Industries tourism, sugar processing, textiles,
tobacco - Tourism has replaced sugar as countrys leading
foreign-exchange earner in 1984 - Labor force by occupation services and govt
58.7, industry 24.3, agriculture 17 (1998
est.) - Andreatta tourism, credit card processing,
offshore banking, and other high tech industry
are moving in to the Caribbean
29Where the success of industry lies
- Success in exporting low cost labor resources
- 20 years success in garment assembly
- of the 34 electronic firms in the D.R., 30
produce goods SOLELY for export - 90 produced for the U.S.
30AGRICULTURE
- Traditional export crops are
- 1) Sugar
- 2) Coffee
- 3) Cocoa
- 4) Tobacco
- The countrys agricultural sector has moved away
from sugar and other traditional crops, with
increased production and export of
non-traditional crops. - Non-Traditional Export Crops are
- 1) Pineapples
- 2) Citrus
- 3) Melons
- 4) Mangoes
- Agricultural areas are found in the East and
Santiago. -
-
-
-
-
31- Agriculture was the backbone of the Dominican
economy for centuries. It declined significantly
during the 1970s and the 1980s, as manufacturing,
mining, and tourism began to play more important
roles in the country's development - During the 1960s, the agricultural sector
employed close to 60 percent of the labor force,
contributed one-quarter of GDP, and provided
between 80 and 90 percent of exports. By 1988,
however, agriculture employed only 35 percent of
the labor force, accounted for 15 percent of GDP,
and generated approximately half of all exports. - The declining importance of sugar, the principal
source of economic activity for nearly a century,
was even more dramatic. Sugar's share of total
exports fell from 63 percent in 1975 to under 20
percent by the late 1980s.
32- The transformation in agriculture paralleled the
country's demographic trends. In 1960, some 70
percent of the country's population was rural by
the 1990s, upwards of 70 percent was expected to
be urban. Government policies accelerated
urbanization through development strategies that
favored urban industries over agriculture in
terms of access to capital, tariff and tax
exemptions, and pricing policies. As a
consequence, the production of major food crops
either stagnated, or declined, in per capita
terms from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s. Lower
world prices for traditional cash crops and
reductions in the United States sugar quota also
depressed the production of export crops in the
1980s. - http//memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy_at_f
ield(DOCIDdo0056) - Data as of December 1989
33CONTRACT FARMING
- What is Contract Farming?
- It is production by smallholders for private
corporations. - Contract farming commits household land and labor
resources to the production of a commodity that
is ultimately controlled by an agro industrial
firm. - Contract Farming is linked to the increasing
consumption of processed foods and the declining
capacity of the state to provide credit and other
inputs to peasant producers. - Process of Contract Farming
- The purchaser enters into a formal agreement with
the grower to buy the farm output prior to
production. In return for the production the
grower agrees to abide by rules over sighted of
the purchaser. - In other words the Purchasers provide the capital
and services and the growers provide the land and
labor.
34- Disadvantages of Contract Farming
- 1) The Producers are subordinated to
management, so we have a proletarian and
bourgeois scenario. There is a disguised wage
labor present. - 2) Its not an individual that is involved in
this type of farming but the entire family. - 3) Traditional crops have declined with the
increase of non-traditional crops. - 4) The use of pesticide, chemical fertilizers
and mechanical cultivation has increased
dramatically. (Example of the Tomato Production) - 5) Growers are experiencing more debt because
of these changes.
35WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE
- The expansion of non-traditional crops has
increased the labor market in the Dominican
Republic. It has been encouraging to the women
labor force. - As result women play a predominant role in the
production of these new crops. - Women are in the background of the peasant
agricultural work. They do the harvesting and
post harvesting crop handling which generally get
no pay. In 1985 14 of Dominican Women were
employed in agriculture. -
36- Women constitute to 42 of the paid
nontraditional agriculture labor force. The
majority of women are involved in the production
of fresh produce exports. For example, melon,
pineapple, avocado and other fresh fruit and nut
enterprises.They rely heavily on womens labor.
For example, women constituted for over 55 of
the workers on the pineapple plantation.
37AGRICULTURE TOURISM
- Tourism can influence agriculture in 5
interrelated ways - It can offer alternative employment
opportunities and therefore raise the reserve
price for agriculture labor and encourage
migration from farming to tourist areas. - Competition for land between recreation and
agriculture may raise land values and so remove
some agricultural land from food production. -
- Tourist activities may modify land use values
around resort areas -
- Tourist demand for high-value and quality food
may provide incentive for farmers to increase and
diversify production or increase food import - Tourism may create aesthetic uses for rural land,
encouraging preservation of some rural
environments and creating associated recreation
based jobs in rural areas.
38History and Development over the years tourism
-
- -Prior to 1967, more Dominicans traveled abroad
than foreigners came to visit the country. - -In 1970, INFRATUR was developed to monitor and
to invest directly in tourist-related
infrastructure projects. - -Multiple devaluations of the peso created a
tourism product that was unbeatable in price.
39History and Development (contd)
- -By 1984, tourism replaced sugar as the countrys
leading foreign exchange earner, exemplifying
the growing diversity of the Dominican Republic
economy. - -By 1989, it boasted more than 18,000 hotel rooms
more than any other location in the Caribbean. - -The number of tourists visiting the island
increased from 278,000 in 1975 to 792,000 in 1985
and in 1987 the number of vacationers surpassed 1
million for the first time.
40Income from Tourism
- Tourist Numbers
- - The majority of tourists come by air
and stay for at least a week (Europeans average
two weeks)
41Arrivals
- The Dominican Republic is the most popular
Caribbean destination for Europeans, and they
make up 46 of its overnight visitors. In 1997,
the countries sending the largest number of
tourists were - United States 402,039
- Germany 328,860
- United Kingdom 216,790
- Canada 152,777
- Italy 118,551
- Spain 106,398
- France 57,507
- Belgium 46,590
- Austria 36,753
42Who owns the Hotels?
- -Although some foreign-owned hotel chains began
investing heavily in the early 1970s (such as
Gulf and Western with the luxury Casa de Campo),
the industrys development was primarily made
possible by domestic investors. - -In 1987, only 21 of hotel rooms were estimated
to be foreign owned.
43Is the Income staying within the country?
- -Because the majority of the hotel chains are
domestic owned, the majority of the income is
kept within the country. However for the
approximately 25 foreign owned hotels, this
amount goes out of the country.
44Benefits of Tourism
- - Tourism offers higher wages
- - Tourist industry employs a number of
workers which provide employment for a
significant percentage of the countrys
population - - Access to foreign currencies
- - Makes a substantial contribution to the
countrys GDP - - casinos bring in a high amount of
visitors and hence some foreign exchange
45Problems associated with Tourism
- (A) Environmental
- -Inadequate supplies of clean water
- -Electricity
- -Soil eroding into the sea damaging the coral
reefs -
- -deforestation
-
- -irreplaceable damages from Hurricane George
- crime
46 47Plans to Improve Tourism
- -The Government has put measures in place to
ensure that tourism development and environmental
management are mutually supportive. It has also
adopted integrated planning policies and promoted
public awareness/education for sustainable
tourism. - The Government has formulated policies for
general tourism, eco-tourism and cultural
tourism, but there are no marine-based tourism
policies at this time. The Government has also
expressed its support in this area by joining in
the Declaration of the Caribbean Sea as a
Sustainable Tourism Region. Public participation
has been developed as a tourism management
strategy, and the development of regulatory
measures has occurred. - The Government has not adopted measures to
protect the cultural integrity of the Dominican
Republic however, local ownership within the
tourism sector has been encouraged. The
Government has not yet provided incentives within
the tourism industry for the use of sustainable
technology with respect to energy, water
resources or waste disposal, but it has been
supportive to hoteliers engaged in these
efforts.