In October 2022, the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD), in collaboration with the World Bank and the National Statistics Office (ONE), launched the study “Approximate GDP at the regional level in the Dominican Republic”, which sought to clarify what each area of the country is dedicated to. This was due to the fact that, at the national level, there are still no regional accounts, although some analytical attempts have been made to approximate regional economic activity.
One of those is “Adelante 2”, a Triangular Cooperation program with Latin America and the Caribbean financed by the European Union. “It is an initiative that seeks to strengthen business statistics,” explained the director of Economic Statistics at One, Augusto de los Santos, to el Dinero.
MSME sector
This alliance, which is carried out between Spain, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic, as explained by De los Santos, is focused on three lines of action: youth, climate change and gender. As such, “these accounts allow you to know what is done at each level, whether more local, more provincial, what that community is sustained by,” he said.
The results will serve as directories that will allow “mapping and identifying where the companies in the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) sector are. During the launch of the study, the executive said that the proposed objective seeks to impact the statistics of these businesses, in order to respond to the needs of the ONE: “to satisfy the demand for information.”
These works would respond to what was announced by President Luis Abinader during his accountability. “We want the industrial and associative fabric to grow throughout the country, unite, and better resist any difficulties from small farmers in the countryside, or MSMEs in cities, such as grocery stores, beauty salons, artisans, taxi drivers, and many other sectors. ”.
The report records those economic activities. In this sense, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Pável Isa Contreras, indicated during the launch that in order to guarantee that producers develop, it is necessary to have data that allows “diagnosing” their reality. “Data that help us to know how it is produced with a territorial approach, guaranteeing that national development is more inclusive, and finally being able to measure territorial GDP,” he said.
Results
During his speech, the official pointed out the points that the report would also respond to, which seeks to identify how companies operate at the national level, as well as the degrees of formality and informality.
“It is necessary to know how our businessmen are, to know the gender gaps that occur in the exercise of economic activity (as well as by age groups), and how to put into perspective actions that reduce existing inequality,” he added.
The report would also indicate which are the sources of financing and the level of access to banking in this sector, to promote programs that allow increasing the technical possibilities of production, and generate more jobs.
“Undoubtedly, the strengthening of business statistics will contribute positively to the creation of adequate diagnoses, with reliable, timely and quality information sources, such as those provided by the National Statistics Office, which will allow the State to formulate and identify better policies in favor of the national productive sectors”, said the official.