Nicaragua's Textile & Apparel Sector Increases its Exports

    WASHINGTON, DC, May 30, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Nicaragua's textile and apparel exports have increased during the first three months of 2010 when compared to the same period in 2009. The last report of the Nicaraguan Association of Textile and Aparrel (Anitec, for its acronym in Spanish), indicates that the value of exports increased 11.75 percent during the first quarter, reaching US$220.6 million, as well as a 4.2 percent increase in volume.

Dean Garcia, Executive Director of Anitec, stated that this increase in value and volume during the first trimester of 2010 creates optimism in the behavior of the textile sector throughout the year. "If we achieve a 10 or 15 percent increase in 2010, then we will level out the decrease we had in 2009," commented Garcia.

According to Otexa, the Office for Textile and Apparel of the United States, Nicaragua is the 14th largest supplier to the U.S. when it comes to the volume of exports in this sector, and the 15th largest shipper when it comes to the value of exports to the U.S.

Eduardo Garcia, Corporate Affairs Manager of Walmart Central America, expressed that Nicaragua is a very important country for them due mainly to the high textile exports to the U.S. since Walmart buys a significant amount of apparel from the country to be distributed through their U.S stores.

Additionally, the One-Stop Shop for Exports (CETREX, for its acronym in Spanish) also reported that the value of Nicaragua's exports, outside the Free Zone Regime, reached US$653.9 million during the first four months of 2010, which represents a 31.8 percent increase in value as well as a 28.67 percent increase in the volume of exports during this period.

United States continues to be the main destination of exports from Nicaragua (30.3 percent), followed by Venezuela (10.6 percent) and El Salvador (10.5 percent), which altogether buy more than half of Nicaragua's products (51.4 percent).

Behind these countries, other main destinations are Costa Rica (5.87 percent), Canada (5.25 percent), Mexico (4.31 percent), Honduras (4.16 percent), India (3.72 percent), Guatemala (3.60 percent), Puerto Rico (2.48 percent) and Germany (2.16 percent).

PRONicaragua is the Nicaraguan Investment Promotion Agency, established in 2002. It is a non-profit, public-private institution whose mission is to generate economic growth and job creation in Nicaragua by attracting high-quality foreign direct investment. The agency provides complimentary support services to qualified investors seeking investment opportunities in our country. For further information, please contact us at (505) 2270-6400 or http://pronicaragua.org.

# # #