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Foreign Investment Law - (Law 16-95)

On November 20, 1995 the new Foreign Investment Law of the
Dominican Republic, Law No.16-95, was enacted by the Executive Branch, repealing our previous statute on foreign investments. The new legislation is the result of a series of consultations and studies initiated in 1990 under the auspices of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and the Dominican Central Bank, with the participation of members from the public and the private sector.

The referenced works culminated in the preparation and submission of a draft bill for a new foreign investment law which reflected the consensus reached by the participants, and was submitted to the Executive Branch for further study and revision, and the subsequent introduction of the bill to Congress. The provisions in the initial bill reflected the prevailing and growing consensus among the different
sectors in the country that the regulations pertaining foreign
investments and, very particularly, had to be further liberalized in order to give equal access and treatment to foreign investors.

On October 24, 1995 the bill was approved with certain minor
amendments by the Chamber of Deputies, and thereafter it was approved by the Senate on November 8, 1995 without further changes. The rules for the application of said law were given by The Presidential by Decree No.380-96 as of August 28, 1996.

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