American Chamber of Commerce Breakfast-Panel: Wages, productivity and growth

Santo Domingo.- The Economic Committee of the AmericanChamber of Commerce (AMCHAMDR) will host on April 20 an economic breakfastfocused on "Wages, productivity and growth" panel format.

This time the panelists are Juan Reyes, Vice Minister ofCompetitiveness; Bernardo Vega, economist, historian and anthropologist; andMartin Franks, Director of the School of Economics PUCMM, moderated by NassimAlemany, Chairman and Managing Partner of Deloitte Economics.

This breakfast is organized in order to examine to whatextent the cost of labor affects exports and competitiveness of the DominicanRepublic; analyze their impact on economic growth; and discuss and analyze thedifferent positions of the wage issue from the following aspects: legislation,employment, labor productivity, public versus private salaries, the currentsystem’s impact on employment prospects and recommendations.

According to the perspective of the Committee, all that isto be analyzed will be useful in businesses and enterprises.

According to the theory of international trade, a countrywill have a comparative advantage in the production of goods and servicesproduced, relatively speaking, if it does so at a lower cost than othercountries. This is because the greater abundance of a particular factor impliesthat the price of that factor will be low relative to other scarce supplies. Goodsproduced relatively cheaper inputs will lower prices and, therefore, will bemore competitive than those same goods produced elsewhere.

This reasoning has been applied to the Dominican Republicto argue that the country has an advantage in producing goods labor intensiveunskilled workers, the most abundant factor is assumed. It has also been arguedthat, as the Dominican competitiveness depends on cheap labor, policies andmeasures to increase the standard of living of workers necessarily imply ahigher cost of labor and lower competitiveness on price.

By holding this breakfast-panel, AMCHAMDR wants to workwith its membership and public related enshrined in areas such as economists,financial consultants, bankers, executives savings associations and financial,business leaders, retailers, professional organizations and civil servants oftheeconomic area. The aim is to achieve better business decisions, so that may bea focus on the necessary measures to maintain and continue driving growth.

Those interested in attending can contact the AmericanChamber of Commerce, phone 7233/42 809 332 or wright to mail events@amcham.org.do