[{"bbox": [97, 191, 452, 215], "category": "Section-header", "text": "**Political and socio-economic context**"}, {"bbox": [96, 230, 1133, 443], "category": "Text", "text": "The DR is a likeminded country, a stable constitutional democracy and promoter of multilateralism, and represents\na bridge between the Caribbean and Latin America⁶. It shares an island with one of the most fragile states in the\nworld, Haiti. The EU continues enjoying good relations with the DR, with which it shares fundamental values.\nSome challenges persist in relation to human rights protection and in terms of transparency⁷, but significant\nprogress is made by the current government (GoDR) to strengthen the rule of law (independence of the judiciary,\nzero tolerance to corruption). The alignment of policy priorities with the budget is also a high priority of the GoDR.\nA new medium term (2021-2024) planning makes this connection explicit. Gender disparities exist in women's\nparticipation in politics: as of February 2021, 27.9% of seats in parliament were held by women.⁸"}, {"bbox": [96, 454, 1133, 640], "category": "Text", "text": "**The DR is an upper middle-income country**, a market economy and a fertile ground for investments. Tourism, remittances, foreign direct investment, mining revenues, free-trade zones, and telecommunications have helped make the DR one of the fastest-growing economies in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. Since 2005, the DR grew at an average rate of 5.8% per year. The economy, though affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, is now back to its prepandemic growth rates, supported by exemplary management of the pandemic, including maintaining the increase of the DR’s debt at acceptable rates and still attracting a high influx of investment, reaching 12.3% growth in 2021. Thus, macroeconomic stability is maintained."}, {"bbox": [96, 652, 1134, 918], "category": "Text", "text": "Yet, this **high economic growth has not translated into shared gains for the whole society.** There are huge socio-economic inequalities prevailing in the country (GINI coefficient in 2020 –last measured-was 39,6). More than 50% of the workforce is informal and 70% of the population earned less than 300 euros/month in the year of measurement. Gender inequalities in the DR are extremely important as they lead to social and economic losses. The DR has scarce opportunities for youth entering the job market. Territorial inequalities are high, as most wealth is concentrated in the biggest cities. The COVID-19 crisis severely affected the population living in most vulnerable situations and revealed the large digital gap. The poverty rate kept its increasing trend during 2021, reaching 23.9 percent, representing over a 300.000 people falling into poverty since the pandemic crisis began. It is therefore urgent to address these inequalities so that the economic recovery can be consolidated and socialised, and this is a priority of the GoDR."}, {"bbox": [96, 929, 1133, 1090], "category": "Text", "text": "**Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)** are the main employment providers in the DR, but most of them are informal, while access to credit is difficult and low productivity levels and poor quality affect their competitiveness. The COVID-19 crisis made the most fragile MSMEs disappear, and put a lot of pressure on lower middle classes that recently came out of poverty. The GoDR is conscious that a dynamic and sustainable business sector is essential for development, economic growth, decent and green jobs creation, increasing incomes and reducing poverty."}, {"bbox": [96, 1115, 1134, 1487], "category": "Text", "text": "**Sustainability of the economic model is key** for the medium and long term development of the DR. The economic gains of the DR are based on the service and industrial sectors, insufficiently considering the impact of the prevailing production model on its fragile ecosystem, the country being amongst the most vulnerable to climate change. The DR is highly dependent on tourism revenues, mainly beach tourism, and the conservation of remaining forests is key to preserve the water resources, which is in turn capital to preserve life on an island. The cities lack proper services like water, sewage and solid waste management systems. With more than 350 landfills, none of which complies with existing regulations, the final disposal of waste remains unmanaged and pollutes waters, rivers and protected areas, exacerbating vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change. Electricity generation is mainly based on fossil fuels, while agricultural production needs to improve its sustainability in relation to the sustainable use of natural resources and limiting the use of pesticides. Poverty and exclusion also increase the vulnerability of certain parts of the country to natural (including climate-related) hazards. Clean production and consumption policies and practices are embrionary and need support and strengthening. Linking poverty reduction to environmental protection through the sustainable management of natural resources is critical to the long-term inclusivity and sustainability of the country's socioeconomic development."}, {"bbox": [86, 1549, 890, 1573], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶ The Alliance for Development in Democracy with Costa Rica and Panama is a good example."}, {"bbox": [86, 1573, 1102, 1598], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁷ According to the 2021 *Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index*, DR ranks 128th out of 180 countries."}, {"bbox": [86, 1597, 1100, 1647], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁸ https://data.unwomen.org/country/dominican-republic#:~:text=In%20the%20Dominican%20Republic%2C%2083.3,parliament%20were%20held%20by%20women."}, {"bbox": [1038, 1681, 1142, 1705], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 6 of 31"}]