Elias Pina Province

Elías Piña is the poorest province in the Dominican Republic, with an 83.2% poverty rate that exceeds every other jurisdiction in a country where the national poverty rate is under 25%. The contrast with Haiti across the border is less stark than it first appears: nearly 6 in 10 Haitians live on less than $3.70 per day, but in Elías Piña, that margin separates national crisis from local norm. The province's economy depends on agriculture, stockbreeding, and growing cross-border trade with Haiti.

Despite Law 28-01's 30-year tax incentives for border zone investment, manufacturing has not materialized in meaningful scale. The province lacks the infrastructure—roads, electricity, ports—that incentives alone cannot create. Haitian migration flows through Elías Piña, intensified by the 2021 presidential assassination that destabilized Haiti further. President Abinader approved construction of a 164-kilometer border wall in response, but enforcement varies with political winds.

By 2026, Elías Piña will test whether border development incentives can overcome structural disadvantages. If infrastructure investment accompanies tax breaks and Haiti stabilizes enough for legitimate commerce to expand, the province could develop processing industries for agricultural goods. If the border remains primarily a crisis management zone rather than an economic corridor, Elías Piña will remain the Dominican Republic's poverty epicenter despite three decades of special incentives.