Commerce In The Dominican Republic

Commerce in the Dominican Republic

 The Dominican Republic and Haiti maintain a commercial relationship as old as their respective stories. Since the Spanish division by the Ryswick Treaty between Spain and France, in 1697, the Hispanic part and the French part of the Island have continually shared an intense product traffic through the border, given the symbiotic nature of two groupsdifferent humans occupying the same geographical space of reduced size.

Exports to Haiti have presented constant growth in the last 5 years, with an average rate of 20%. The main exchange products are: cotton fabrics, wheat flour, cookies, steel rods, cement, among others. The formal and informal trade of the Dominican Republic with Haiti has been taking importance in the 2000s, so that on average during 2014-2015, Dominican exports to Haiti represent 13% of total Dominican exports and 31%of the total imports of Haiti, to reach an amount that is above US $ 1.2 billion. There are large amounts of jobs and wealth that depend on the maintenance of this bilateral trade, and that could even represent greater profits for the two countries.

A particular case that represents the Dominican-Haitian Binational Trade are cross-border markets. The border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti lives on commercial exchanges 365 days a year, being the greatest income of the peoples of this strip and one of the most important in the country.

The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the same island with two different races and cultures, even so, the two nations have several things in common, 391 kilometers of border, 311 pyramids that mark the division of the territory, 32 formal steps that constitute the transition ofOne country to another, various economic activities especially in the border towns where 14 cross -border markets that strengthen the economies of both countries and where at least 2,600 small Dominican and Haitian merchants converge,.

 In a bustle that occurs in Spanish and Creole, in the bilateral markets currencies are changed and products are sold for personal or resale consumption, wholesale and detail, including second -hand products that are donated to Haitians, in addition tothe sale of products made in both countries, both agricultural and artisanal and other. Many merchants come a day before to settle. With some exceptions, such as the Dajabón market (the largest of all), everything is done in an unhealthy space in which sanitary measures are not taken into account.

Following Haitian high migration to Dominican Republic, Haitians have also settled within the country establishing different shops, mostly informal. Others have dedicated themselves to labor work, agricultural crops and some are employees, among other trades.