Nicaragua to Attend MAGIC in Las Vegas

MANAGUA, NICARAGUA, August 15, 2012 (Press-News.org) Nicaragua will be participating for a second consecutive year in MAGIC, the preeminent trade event of the international fashion industry, which hosts global buyers and sellers of apparel, footwear and accessories. The event, which will take place from August 20th to the 23rd at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada, gathers global fashion brands and industry leaders, who will have the opportunity to take an inside look at Nicaragua's growing footwear and apparel industry.

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.

Furthermore, the footwear industry has also shown substantial growth in recent years due to the start of operations of two prestigious Brazilian companies, Schmidt Irmaos and ANIGER, which represent the first major investments in industrial footwear production in the country. In 2011, Nicaragua exported US$35.2 million in footwear, a significant increase compared to US$8.2 million in 2010.

PRONicaragua is the Nicaraguan Investment Promotion Agency, established in 2002. It is a non-profit, public-private institution whose mission is to generate economic growth and job creation in Nicaragua by attracting high-quality foreign direct investment. The agency provides complimentary support services to qualified investors seeking investment opportunities in our country. For further information, please contact us at (505) 2270-6400 or http://pronicaragua.org.