Nicaragua to partake at MAGIC in Las Vegas

The Nicaraguan delegation participating in the event will include PRONicaragua, the official investment and export promotion agency of the Government of Nicaragua, the National Free Zone Commission and the Nicaraguan Association of the Textiles and Apparel Industry (ANITEC, for its acronym in Spanish), as well as prestigious footwear and apparel manufacturing companies established in Nicaragua, such as ROCEDES, Kaltex-Argus and Alex's Shoes.

The highlight of Nicaragua's participation in MAGIC will be a special, one-hour presentation titled "Nicaragua's Competitiveness as Footwear Producer", showcasing Nicaragua's excellent competitive position for footwear production. The presentation will be at the Cultural Center on the show floor on Tuesday, August 21st from 3:30 - 4:30pm.

Additionally, Javier Chamorro Rubiales, Executive Director of PRONicaragua, will be a member of the panel titled "Closer to Home: Outsourcing in the Americas", which will take place on August 20th at 2:00pm in Room S232 of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The panel will discuss essential insights for apparel and footwear sourcing executives, including the advantages of pairing U.S. production with Central and South American materials, world-class operational examples and accessing duty-free trade benefits via CAFTA, NAFTA and free trade agreements with Colombia, Peru and Chile.

In Nicaragua's booth (#66219 in the Americas Pavilion), participants will be able to obtain information on the country's apparel manufacturing sector, establish key contacts with companies in the industry operating in Nicaragua and witness the quality of garments and footwear manufactured in the country.

A recent study by O'Rourke Group Partners found Nicaragua to be the single most competitive option for sourcing numerous apparel products, not just in this hemisphere, but in some cases also compared to China, Vietnam and Bangladesh, due the country's low costs, educated labor pool, improving labor productivity, its consistent quality, an excellent free trade zone system, as well as its speed-to-market performance.

In 2011, Nicaragua was the 11th largest worldwide apparel supplier to the U.S. in volume, thus becoming an important player in the global textile and apparel industry, according to the Office for Textiles and Apparel of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Additionally, from January to May 2012, Nicaragua increased 17.6 percent in export value when compared to the same period in 2011 demonstrating that Nicaragua continues to become an attractive export platform.