New leather and footwear association for Dominican Republic
12/03/2015
Mr Peralta revealed that exports of shoes from the Dominican Republic to the US exceeded 10 million pairs last year, representing growth of 10.5% compared to the volumes for 2013 and that footwear producers in the Dominican Republic now employ more than 17,000 people in special Free Zones across the country.
There are currently more than 50 Free Zone industrial parks in the Dominican Republic, in which more than 500 manufacturing companies operate, importing materials, making finished goods and exporting them (often to the US, which is only three days away by container ship) in a customs-free environment.
Many prominent footwear brands and outsource shoe manufacturing groups have begun to set up operations in the Dominican Republic because of the access, lead-time and cost advantages it can offer to companies with a market presence in the US through the CAFTA-DR free trade agreement, which came into effect in the Dominican Republic in 2007.
In 2013, the country’s total footwear output was 14 million pairs, with export revenues of $425 million.
Mr Peralta said in his recent comments that Timberland, Wolverine, Sperry, Clarks, Sebago, Bass, Rocky, Johnston & Murphy and Allen Edmonds are among the brands bringing into the US at the moment shoes made in the Dominican Republic. Major Taiwanese groups are among the manufacturers that have moved into the country and the minister revealed that the proposed new footwear and leather association is an initiative that the Taiwanese companies have suggested.
Share this story:
