U.S. Trade Official Calls for Implementation of Haitian Apparel
February 18, 2010 Reuters
Doug Palmer (Editing by Eric Beech)
The top U.S. trade official has urged clothing manufacturers and retailers to help rebuild Haiti by importing 1 percent of their apparel production from the earthquake-ravaged country.
“One percent may seem small, but it means new jobs and new opportunities for the Haitian people who so desperately need forward-looking solutions in the wake of January’s devastating earthquake,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement this week.
Kirk and officials from Gap Inc., Hanesbrands and the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel announced the new initiative in Las Vegas at a fashion and apparel industry conference.
Companies representing more than $195 billion in U.S. consumer clothing sales were expected to attend the industry meeting, Kirk’s office said.
“USA-ITA will work with our member companies who already source in Haiti, and will encourage our members who are new to Haiti to participate in the Plus One initiative,” the group’s president, Julia Hughes, said.
Haiti’s clothing sector accounted for about 75 percent of the country’s exports and employed more than 25,000 Haitians before the January 12 earthquake, which killed more than 200,000 people.
U.S. trade officials hope a vigorous response to the Plus One program will encourage investors to get Haitian clothing factories back into operation as quickly as possible.
President Barack Obama’s administration will support the program by working with U.S. and Haitian companies to remove roadblocks to Haitian apparel exports, Kirk said.
(Story found in original format here.)
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