Santo Domingo. – The foreign investment companies grouped in ASIEX on Monday hailed the support which the Dominican Government provides them and to the private sector in general, through a fair legal framework and clear rules, and affirm having a vision of sustainable development for the country.

The Asiex executives made the statement during a luncheon with vice president Rafael Alburquerque Thursday, when they presented recent data on the evolution of foreign investments in the country, which generated 31% of the tax revenue last year, or around RD$56.0 billion (US$1.4 billion).

“It’s important to note that foreign companies reinvest an important part of their earnings in the country, which alleviates the balance of payments and is a major contribution to Dominican Republic’s economic growth,” said Asiex president Marco De la Rosa during the gathering.

“It’s necessary to stress the State’s support to the Direct Foreign Investment (IED) that currently generates more than 83,000 direct jobs, through 138 companies registered as contributors,” the head of the ASIEX said in a statement

De la Rosa also revealed that the IED represented around 5% of the country’s GDP, higher than in countries such as Mexico (2%), Argentina (2.1%), Brazil (2.9%), Colombia (4%) and Peru (4.5%).

The business leader said within the Caribbean Dominican Republic is by far the country with the most participation in this area “attracting 38.3% of the IED flows established in that sub-region just in 2009.”

The Asiex representatives stated their interest in continuing to contribute with the sustainability of the sectors they as a whole represent to the Vice President, including mining, financial services, telecommunications, tourism, energy, cement, among others.

For his part, vice president Alburquerque cited the advances of the Government’s Social Policy Cabinet and its Solidarity Program, as well as aspects related to the current political climate.

In addition to De la Rosa, Asiex Board of Directors, members and past presidents Miguel Estepan, Oscar Peña, Máximo Vidal, Alfonso Paniagua, Carlos Jacks, Carl Carlson, Ramón Ortega, Alejandro Peña Prieto, Manuel Bonilla, Octavio Ramírez Rojas, José Luis Alonso, Luis Heredia Bonetti and Fernando Pavia participated in the meeting held in the Cemex corporate offices in Santo Domingo.