New Commercial Societies Law Will Revolutionize Commerce and Promote Competitiveness in the DR

The Commercial Societies project has passed from a bill to a law and some say it is a “revolution” and a transformation for commerce in the Dominican Republic in that it updates the Commerce Code of 1844 and will help the country improve its international competitiveness by offering more facilities for the creation of new businesses.

The Law of Commercial Societies and Individual Limited Responsibility Businesses was drawn up by consultants and technicians of the National Competitiveness Council…

The Law of Commercial Societies and Individual Limited Responsibility Businesses was drawn up by consultants and technicians of the National Competitiveness Council as part of the actions contemplated in the National Plan for Systemic Competitiveness introduced by President Leonel Fernández on March 21, 2007. On the 29th of March 2007, the President submitted the bill to the Senate. This Tuesday it went into law, approved by the Chamber of Deputies.

“With this new law, which is the product of a concerted effort on the part of the National Competitiveness Council (CNC), we will have the opportunity for corporate rights to go into effect while keeping up with modern times and globalization, permitting the existence of single-owner businesses as well as other types. This will attract major foreign investment resulting in the creation of jobs because investors and businesspeople will have a law at their disposition that allows them to more easily create companies” said Andrés van der Horst Álvarez, Secretary of State and Director of the CNC.

At the moment when President Fernández sent the law to Congress for approval, he guaranteed that the draft bills submitted as part of the National Plan for Systemic Competitiveness are “necessary and adequate instruments for our country to deepen its insertion into the commercial world and to satisfy the economic and social expectations of the Dominican people.”

Me. Van der Horst Álvarez added that the CNC is committed to making the Dominican Republic a competitive nation, integrated into the world economy with a developed, competitive, sustainable and equitable platform, as is laid out in the National Plan for Systemic Competitiveness.

Due to the transcendence of this new legislation, “I want to extend my congratulations to the legislators who, from the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, became allies in support of this initiative which places our country in a new situation marked by modernity and competitiveness,” said Van der Horst Álvarez.

In a press release, the CNC lauded the presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, Reinaldo Pared Pérez and Julio César Valentín, saying that they, along Senator Francisco Domínguez Brito, deserve special recognition in that they studied and analyzed the true impact of the law. The press bulletin noted the effort made by Deputy Ito Bisonó who headed the commission which studied the draft bill. Andrés van der Horst Álvarez said the commission “gave their body and soul to make this legal tool a reality that will bring investment to the country.”

He added that the CNC greatly appreciated the intellectual and technical work done by the lawyer José Luís Taveras who, with funds from the Inter-American Development Bank (IBD), was able to synthesize the best practices and legal tools into legislation to facilitate the creation of new companies.

Mr. van der Horst Álvarez went on to praise the technical effort and coordination of the team of professionals from the National Competitiveness Council who were led by Elka Scheker and Laura del Castillo, along with consultant Taveras, all of whom made this legislation possible.