After two years in which sales fell due to the pandemic, the Ecuadorian textile industry is looking for ways to recover.
One of them is the Ecuatextil fair, which takes place from this Thursday, April 21, 2022 until Saturday in Quito. This serves as a commercial space for all the actors in the production chain, ranging from suppliers of raw materials, textiles, machinery and supplies, according to Doris Campbell, director of operations at Ecuatextil.
The fair is organized by the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises of Pichincha, Campbell Events and the ConQuito Economic Promotion Agency. They expect to receive around 10,000 visitors and raise around 8 million dollars.
It is aimed at all those who have to do with textile production, clothing manufacturers, dressmakers, tailors, fashion designers, students, so that they can learn about suppliers, their services and offers on topics such as machinery, as well as free training. Although it has opened up the possibility that those who have the idea of starting a business and want to see how to start a maquila workshop or buy a sublimation or embroidery machine can also receive the necessary information to start and even purchase products for that purpose.
“We have an exhibition pavilion with 98 national and international companies (22), from Peru, Colombia, Bangladesh and China. In addition, a pavilion for specialized conferences, for example, how to land consumption on-line, sustainable fashion and others such as recycling and management of toxic waste generated by the textile industry. We have a catwalk area as well,” says Campbell.
It adds that the Ecuadorian textile industry represented until 2019 1% of the country’s GDP, with 1,387 million dollars in sales. However, due to the pandemic it fell between 2020 and 2021 by 36%. Reason why they seek to get back on track and recover the 10,000 jobs that they claim were lost due to COVID-19.
“The sector is still not 100% recovered. December was a positive month due to the consumption of dates, but in January and February it fell again. We have had the loss of around 10,000 jobs, usually women who are heads of household… However, since March a reactivation has been felt again, mainly in the area of education, because many industrial fabric plants were suppliers of, for example, the Spinning Development project, which generates student uniforms, and when the academic cycle (face-to-face) is reactivated, an interesting reactivation is seen,” says Campbell.
He adds that the large centers of textile consumption, such as Atuntaqui and Pelileo, are preparing to improve their industrial processes because very strong international chains such as H&M and Falabella are coming, which are going to be a great competition in price and fashion.
Precisely to compete what is sought is to improve on the subject of design, because the country has a small lag in this area, says Campbell.
Regarding prices, he comments that operating costs make it difficult to compete with this type of international chain, so the topic of fashion could help with that end.
“We have more than 32,000 fashion designers who have graduated in the last ten years and the intention is for the industry to integrate them into its work teams because they are a key piece. With that we begin to generate differentiators. The second step is for Ecuadorians to begin to have their own identity and generate local consumption… If we have a good product, with a competitive price, with design, we don’t have to look to neighboring countries or international brands,” says Campbell.
The industry has repeatedly asked public institutions to review the tariff issue, because several inputs are not produced here but are imported from neighboring countries (buttons, zippers, elastics) or from Asia (fabrics made with better technology).
This will be the fourth edition of Ecuatextil, the first two were held in Guayaquil and the third in Quito. The next one would be in Cuenca or I would return to Guayaquil, a city that seems interesting to the organizers because of the fashion theme, since more fashion is generated and consumed in the Main Port – garments not produced industrially – than in other cities.
In total, 1,085 dedicated companies have been identified in the country, of which 80% are clothing or maquila, the rest are industrial fabric manufacturing plants, says Campbell.
In terms of industry, Pichincha is the first province in textile development, followed by Imbabura, Tungurahua, Azuay and Guayas, where the catalog issue leads the business. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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