Footwear

Stepping strong: opportunities in footwear manufacturing

  • Footwear and leather export industry continues to be one of the most important in the free zones
  • With a robust local supply chain boasting increased capacity for producing raw materials and components
  • 27 local and multinational companies operate under the free zone’s regime, generating + 5,000 direct jobs
Footwear Dominican Republic - 003 Government prioritization Export leadership Competitive supply chain
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Insights into

Dominican Republic's footwear industry

The footwear and leather subsector is one of the most important export industries in the Dominican Republic. The success of this industry has been encouraged by a highly competitive local supply chain with increasing capacity for producing most of the raw materials and components required by footwear and leather products manufacturers.

Cluster Development

Training Programs

Private Labels

Contract Manufacturers

More than 50 years of technical experience

Qualified labor, with specialized skills and knowledge, especially in high-end leather footwear, designed for the European and American markets.

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Footwear

Frequently asked questions

Get answers to common inquiries about the dynamic footwear industry in the Dominican Republic, covering topics such as industry growth, government initiatives, and export prospects.

The main advantage would be to operate under the free zone regime, which exempts manufacturing exporting companies from most taxes and tariffs, including the import of raw materials and machinery.

Likewise, companies can take advantage of the local supply chain, including national and multinational manufacturers, world-class tanneries, and component suppliers.

In 2007, Law 56-07 was passed, which declared as national priority the sectors belonging to the textile chain, clothing and accessories, footwear manufacturing and leather, by creating a national regulatory regime for these industries, and integrating them even more into the processes carried out in the free zones and the national market.

Likewise, in 2014, the National Footwear Commission was created, to support companies in the footwear and leather manufacturing subsector collaborating with their development and growth.

The development of the footwear industry has been supported by a continuous expansion of local production capacities for raw materials and components, such as the processing of leather, manufacturing of soles and other components whose production has been consolidated during the last years. years. Obviously, in addition to the value that these processes add, they generate important advantages in terms of costs, logistics, flexibility, among others.

The cases of greater productive integration within the country contribute up to 80% of the total manufacturing value of the product and its components.

In 2016, the Specialized Training Center for the Footwear, Leather and Components manufacturing industries was formalized, based at INFOTEP – North  Regional, in the city of Santiago, for the training of trainers and the strengthening of the workforce.