The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

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ITALIAN INVESTMENT IN THE MODERN DOMINICAN ECONOMY

Italian Investments in Maritime

Transportation

The Dominican economy benefited tremendously

from the technological advances of this first wave

of globalization, specifically through the increased

speed in communication and the reductions in the

cost of transporting goods and people by sea. An-

other benefit occurred with cable communication;

using its own capital, the Compañía Telegráfica de

las Antillas built the 250-kilometer Santo Domin-

go-Puerto Plata line, the 100-kilometer Vega-Sán-

chez line, and the 130-kilometer Santiago-Monte-

cristi line, for a total of 480 kilometers and the sum

of US$90,000.

In the Dominican Republic, the availability of

maritime cargo and passenger transport increased

when the Clyde Steamship Company, a shipping

company, commercially linked the country with

the United States after the Separation from Haiti in

1844. The company monopolized maritime trans-

port and set excessive rates, yet it was eventually

confronted by Vicini Cánepa, with ships that he

had secured on consignment to transport his sugar

abroad, which he made available to other producers and exporters of raw materials.

Due to the competition posed by Vicini Cánepa, in 1905 the government reduced the tariff that it applied

to ships in the country’s ports, thereby devaluing sea freight, a measure that the Clyde Steamship Company

opposed, arguing that it had had the exclusive concession of the Dominican State since April 3, 1895.

The

move was also opposed by U.S. Consul General Reed, who happened to serve as the representative agent for

Clyde.

With foreign investments to expand and modernize internal communication and the augmented supply of

maritime transport, the liberal market policies that contributed to opening the country to world trade generat-

ed more benefits for Dominicans, which in turn facilitated increase in the flow of foreign capital, accelerating

domestic production.

As a consequence of the reduction in transportation costs, the competitiveness of sugar, coffee, cacao,

tobacco, and other agricultural items exported through the country’s five principal ports increased exponen-

tially. The ports serving the Dominican Republic during this time included Santo Domingo and Azua in the

south, Samaná and Puerto Plata on the north coast, and San Pedro de Macorís in the east.

The entry into the arena of world trade in the last quarter of the nineteenth century combined with im-

migration incentive policies explain the upward trend in economic activity in the Dominican Republic, with

GDP increasing 383 times between 1844 and 2000, which supposes an annual cumulative rate of 4.3%, and

with real per capita GDP increasing a little more than fivefold, at an overall annual rate of 1.5%. Despite an

uneven pace when periodizing, the economy grew at an annual rate of 1% between 1844 and 1950. By 2000,

per capita income was 3.5 times higher than it had been in 1950.

Over the course of 156 years (1844 - 2000), the population increased 6,700% (125,000 inhabitants in 1844;

150,000 inhabitants in 1871; 383,312 inhabitants in 1887; 458,000 inhabitants in 1898;

890,000 inhabitants in

1920;

1,500,000 inhabitants in 1935; 3,000,000 inhabitants in 1960; and 8,500,000 inhabitants in 2000

The Ambassador of

Italy Andrea Canepari

accompanied by the

President of Grupo

Ámbar, Miguel

Barletta, and Francina

Lama de Barletta.

Santo Domingo, June

6, 2018.