The Dominican Republic is caught in a paradox between its ambitions to become a Caribbean technology and logistics hub and its failure to resolve fundamental societal problems, according to former competitiveness director Rafael Paz.
Rafael Paz is a specialist in governance and public management who previously served as the Director of Competitiveness for the Dominican Republic.
Writing in an opinion piece, Paz argued that the country is living in two times, aiming to compete in the twenty-first-century economy without having resolved twentieth-century problems.
While the country has experienced extraordinary economic growth, Paz noted that communities still lack basic education, potable water, continuous electricity, dignified housing and healthcare.
Overcrowded capital city
The capital of Santo Domingo illustrates this contradiction. Constituency 3 of the National District concentrates 360,592 inhabitants into just 13.29 square kilometres.
According to the capital's Territorial Ordering Plan, this creates a density of 27,132 inhabitants per square kilometre, more than three times the density of the city's other two constituencies.
Paz noted that unlike the planned density of cities such as Singapore, Manhattan or Tokyo, this situation constitutes overcrowding. He described families accumulated in an unprepared territory while other parts of the city build high-rise towers and integrate into global circuits.
Unprepared future workforce
Paz warned that the country cannot wait to resolve these basic needs before facing new challenges, as artificial intelligence is already transforming work and automation will demand labour reconversion.
Global competition for data centres, energy and supply chains has already begun.
Social challenges have also shifted. The state must ensure quality nutrition to combat obesity and chronic diseases, build a healthier society rather than just expanding healthcare coverage, and foster lifelong learning capabilities.
Missing administrative data
The state itself reflects this paradox, seeking interoperability, digital services and artificial intelligence while struggling to answer basic questions about its own operations.
The first National Census of Real Estate Assets, ordered in 2023, successfully identified more than 40,000 state properties valued at more than 12.4 trillion pesos.
However, the state lacks a similar administrative census for its workforce. The available figure of 780,060 state workers in May 2026 relies on social security records rather than a dedicated count.
Paz cautioned that attempting to digitalise disorder will only produce disorder faster, even as the country attracts investments from global companies such as Google.
Connected modern agendas
The risks of piecemeal modernisation include having fibre optic cables without sewerage systems, and building data centres while 83 per cent of homes receive water irregularly, according to the ENHOGAR 2024 survey.
The country risks pairing globally competitive ports with congested cities, and artificial intelligence with poor basic education.
Closing these gaps is now a requirement for economic competition, as poor nutrition reduces human capital, deficient schools limit labour reconversion, and an overcrowded city loses productivity.
A fragmented state will also struggle to govern exponential technologies.
Paz concluded that the country must simultaneously provide regular water access while building digital infrastructure, and organise the state while automating it. This simultaneous approach will require state capacity, planning and clear priorities.
