Weibo to fund Macedonian textile unit with Turkish capital

31 May '14

2 min read

China-based Guangzhou Weibo Company is going to finance an integrated textile production facility in Macedonia, largely with Turkish capital, says a Southeast European Times (SETimes) report.

The announcement by Weibo is the latest among the several foreign funded projects coming up in the Balkans, primarily creating a rout to reach the EU markets through setting up their facilities in EU-member aspirant countries.

As per the SETimes report, Guangzhou Weibo will invest US$ 400 million for construction of four facilities in Rankovce, a municipality in northeastern part of Macedonia, creating one of the largest integrated textile production units in Europe. The deal would be mainly financed with Turkish capital.

Macedonia was chosen for investment by Weibo because of the country’s low labour and production costs and its vast experience in manufacturing textiles.

Weibo’s main products are shirts, jackets, suits, trousers and coats. The Macedonian facility would produce items both for the company’s own brand as well as for well-known global brands.

The new integrated textile unit would generate direct employment opportunities for about 5,000 people and another 2,000 indirect jobs.

According to InvestMacedonia data, in 2011, there were about 800 textile companies employing more than 40,000 people, constituting about 35 percent of all industrial employment in Macedonia. The textile and clothing sector contributed €550 million or about 17 percent to the country’s total export earnings.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India