80 Peruvian SMEs gain from PROMPERU fair trade project

The fair trade project is an initiative undertaken by PROMPERU along with support from the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and the Italian Consortium Altromercato (a cooperative organization consisting of member shops aggregated into a consortium that expresses the central import, marketing and distribution of products), with the aim of promoting social and economic developments in several regions of Peru.

Textile and apparel SMEs from the Peruvian regions of Arequipa, Cusco, Junin, Lima and Puno gained from the fair trade project, and also got the opportunity to participate at the recently concluded Peru Moda fair in the Peruvian capital of Lima.

CAF director and representative in Peru Eleonora Silva said the textile and apparel sector of the country consists of mainly SMEs from different regions, which employ 70 percent of women workers with limited resources, but with huge potential for improvement.

Ms. Silva said that the project would not only provide technical assistance to textile and apparel clusters in these regions but also promote the participation of Peruvian SMEs in national as well as international fairs, in order to provide them an opportunity to meet with foreign buyers.

The CAF has contributed more than 1 million Peruvian Nuevo sols for the project which has been developed by the Italian Consortium Altromercato into two phases. The first phase of the project was launched in 2010 to provide training and technical assistance to theses SMEs and more than 200 Peruvian firms were sensitized in fair trade principles during this phase.

The second phase was launched in 2013 with a view to enable these firms to attain the Fair Trade certification that would allow them to access and participate in the commercial network of the Fair Trade and Ethical System.

Fair trade is an organized social movement that aims to help producers in developing countries to employ better trading conditions and promote sustainability. It advocates the payment of a higher price by exporters and promotes higher social and environmental standards. It focuses, in particular, on exports from developing countries to developed countries.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India