Miguel Lama, CEO of Corporación Zona Franca Santiago: Building a Leading Investment Hub in the Americas

Santiago Business City

After more than five decades of industrial leadership, Corporación Zona Franca Santiago is entering a new phase of development. What began as an industrial park has evolved into a manufacturing and logistics platform of regional relevance — and is now expanding to support advanced industries, knowledge-intensive sectors, global services and innovation-led growth.

As supply chains are reconfigured across the Americas, Santiago, Dominican Republic, has strengthened its position as one of the region’s most competitive industrial locations. At the centre of this evolution is the Víctor Espaillat Mera Industrial Park (PIVEM), developed over five decades by Corporación Zona Franca Santiago and continuing to expand as multinational companies seek reliable, efficient operating bases close to end markets.

President: Miguel Lama

Today, this export-oriented ecosystem hosts more than 80 multinational companies, including leaders in their respective sectors, generating over 22,000 direct jobs and more than 40,000 indirect jobs. The scale of activity has helped shape one of the Caribbean’s most dynamic industrial environments, supported by a skilled workforce, established supplier networks and long-standing experience in export manufacturing. It is an industrial platform built not only on infrastructure, but on institutional continuity — the ability to operate predictably through cycles, and to provide investors with the confidence that projects can scale.

Santiago Business City: The Next Phase of Growth

Building on the proven performance of PIVEM, Corporación Zona Franca Santiago is advancing the next stage of its long-term vision through Santiago Business City. Conceived as an integrated business district, the initiative extends the traditional industrial platform into a broader environment where companies can operate, connect and grow within a cohesive economic ecosystem.

At the heart of the project is the development of a modern business centre, complemented by corporate offices, commercial spaces and lifestyle amenities designed to support the daily rhythm of companies and professionals. Anchored in more than five decades of industrial leadership, Santiago Business City represents the natural evolution of a platform already tested at scale — and further positions Santiago as an increasingly attractive destination for global firms seeking a stable base for operations and expansion across the Americas.

Positioned for a New Industrial Cycle

The Dominican Republic offers structural advantages that continue to attract international investment, including legal stability, a secure business environment and the accelerating momentum of nearshoring, friendshoring and brainshoring strategies across the hemisphere. Within this context, the ecosystem developed by Corporación Zona Franca Santiago provides more than industrial space; it offers an operating model designed to strengthen long-term competitiveness.

Beyond the Víctor Espaillat Mera Industrial Park, the wider ecosystem includes specialised entities supporting companies across critical dimensions of performance. CAPEX focuses on workforce training and professional development. Zonaxol advances clean-energy solutions for park operations and client needs. CEGESTA supports recruitment and talent management. MĒDICA provides healthcare services for employees and companies operating within the park, as well as surrounding communities. Together, these institutions reinforce the productivity, talent pipeline and operational reliability that global companies evaluate when allocating capital and building regional footprints.

Recognising a Model of Industrial Development

International recognition for Corporación Zona Franca Santiago reflects more than scale. It signals the maturity of a development model built over decades — one that combines institutional leadership, operational reliability and an enduring commitment to strengthening the productive capacity of the Dominican Republic.

Through continuous expansion of the Víctor Espaillat Mera Industrial Park, the creation of specialised support institutions and the forward-looking ambition represented by Santiago Business City, the organisation has shaped an ecosystem where global companies can establish operations with confidence and deepen investment over time. The result is sustained contribution to economic growth, business competitiveness and responsible industrial development — positioning Santiago as one of the Caribbean’s most respected industrial platforms and an increasingly relevant investment hub in the Americas.

The Vision Behind Santiago Business City

To know Miguel Lama, President of Corporación Zona Franca Santiago, is to encounter a leader whose career has been defined by economic development and civic purpose. Throughout his professional life, Lama has advanced a view that competitiveness and institutional strength are essential pathways to raising quality of life — for cities, communities and the nation.

This perspective has shaped his leadership of the Víctor Espaillat Mera Industrial Park and its evolution into a broader economic platform for Santiago. For Lama, economic progress is inseparable from civic responsibility and long-term collaboration between institutions. That mindset has taken him into leadership roles across several influential economic and development organisations, both in Santiago and nationally.

Most recently, the President of the Dominican Republic appointed Lama to lead the Free Zones Sectoral Committee within the Meta RD 2036 national strategy — a public–private platform designed to advance transformative actions in sectors considered essential to the future competitiveness of the Dominican economy. The appointment underlines a wider recognition: that the competitiveness built within free-zone ecosystems is increasingly integral to national development strategy, not peripheral to it.