WASHINGTON — August 5, 2022 — A U.S. congressional delegation visited textile and apparel facilities in an industrial park in Choloma, Honduras today. They witnessed first-hand the significant investments, expansions, and job creation in the country’s textile and apparel sector and the USA fibers and yarns utilized in the production process.
The delegation, led by Congressman Lou Correa (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight, Management and Accountability toured several companies with facilities in Honduras, including Parkdale Mills, Elcatex, and SanMar, all of which are expanding their footprint in the region.
Reps. John Katko (R-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) also joined the delegation, which included U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Honduras Laura Dogu, U.S. military officials, U.S. embassy officials and U.S. and Honduran industry executives.
These new investments in the industrial park were recently highlighted by Vice President Kamala Harris who is calling on private industry to promote economic opportunity in the region to address the root causes of migration.
In addition, this delegation is meeting with other top-level U.S. and Honduran textile and apparel executives to discuss this critically important co-production chain.
The Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) has spawned a textile and apparel coproduction chain, resulting in $12.6 billion in two-way trade and hundreds of millions of dollars in investments in the region. Nearly $1 billion of historic textile and apparel investment is anticipated this year alone.
Rep. Correa said: “Today’s visit to Honduras’s textile and apparel plants highlights the region’s substantial progress and growth in job creation. Seeing first-hand the significant investments, expansions and job creation that have taken place in the Honduras textiles and apparel sector demonstrates the region’s commitment to supporting the region’s long-term development, which includes measures to foster economic opportunities. I alongside with my colleagues will continue to collaborate with Central American countries to ensure that we are expanding job creation and working with our allies to continue to promote stability and progress in the Northern Triangle.”
“I am extremely grateful to our hosts for allowing us to visit these facilities firsthand and better understand economic development in the region. Importantly, these investments will improve supply chain security by advancing nearshoring and onshoring of textiles and apparel that I hope to see replicated in other industries critical to the U.S. economy,” said Rep. Katko. “I look forward to sharing what I have learned with my colleagues in Washington so we can continue to build on this progress.”
NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas said: “We deeply appreciate this visit to the Honduran textile and apparel industry by this congressional leadership team, our Ambassador, and government officials. The critical importance of the U.S.-CAFTA-DR to the region and the significant investments that is being made by this sector cannot be overstated. This agreement and the textile rules included has driven massive investment and support over 530,000 jobs in the region and 500,000 in Central America. This is a pivotal moment for the coproduction chain between the U.S. and regional textile and apparel industries, in light of onshoring and nearshoring trends. We look forward to working with Congress, the administration, and our regional partners on fostering event stronger ties and growth in the hemisphere.”
Posted: August 5, 2022
Source: The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO)
