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Title: Dominican Republic Country Information


1
Dominican 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

2
Map of the Caribbean
3
Map of the Dominican Republic
4
Project goal
  • To explore the primary factors available to the
    Dominican Republic for its development

5
Human 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.

6
The 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

7
Some 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

8
Poverty 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.

9
Poverty 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.

10
EDUCATION
  • 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.

11
EDUCATION 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.

12
What 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.

13
Seers 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.

14
Education 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.

15
Links 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.

16
Are 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

17
Gender 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

18
Quote 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)

19
Gender 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.

20
Gender 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).

21
Gender 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

22
And 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

23
Womens 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)

24
Results 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

25
Industry 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)

26
Imports 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

27
Textile 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.

28
Industries 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

29
Where 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.

30
AGRICULTURE
  • 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

33
CONTRACT 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.

35
WOMEN 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.

37
AGRICULTURE 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.

38
History 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.

39
History 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.

40
Income from Tourism
  •    Tourist Numbers
  • -         The majority of tourists come by air
    and stay for at least a week (Europeans average
    two weeks)

41
Arrivals
  •        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

42
Who 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.

43
Is 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.

44
Benefits 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

45
Problems 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
  • B) Other
  • Sex tourism

47
Plans 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.  
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