The Agreement Between Mexico And Columbia Will Strengthen Cooperation In Textile And Clothing Fields

According to reports, the head of the Columbia Export Promotion Council (PROCOLOMBIA) said that there are many opportunities for investment in Mexico, and some brands in Columbia are constantly consolidating in Mexico.

　　 Mexico Signing freedom with Columbia trade agreement Over the past 20 years, bilateral trade has increased from $100 million to US $5 billion. With the start of the Pacific Alliance, trade between the two countries is expected to grow considerably.

Mexico and Columbia Both are important producers of textiles and clothing in Latin America. Mexico and Columbia trade in textile and clothing products, Mexico is in a favorable position, exports of about 67 million 890 thousand US dollars, and imports of US $61 million 70 thousand. In 2015, the two companies will invest 1 billion US dollars.

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Reporters learned that China is no longer a cheap clothing country, because in the coastal areas of the main garment industry center, the wages of workers are about 500 dollars a month, and the inland area is 250 dollars, so in recent years, foreign clothing retailers have transferred the factory to mengala and Burma. The clothing industry in Bangladesh has grown to $25 billion and employs 4 million 400 thousand workers. Burma is US $5 billion 500 million, providing 650 thousand of employment opportunities.

But in these cheap clothing countries, workers began to fight for higher wages. After a labour dispute, Burma raised the monthly salary of workers to 68 dollars, an increase of 77%. In November 2014, the Ministry of labour of Bangladesh raised the minimum monthly salary of clothing workers to $128, an increase of $75, and the monthly salary was almost two times that of Burma.

For the giants of the global apparel industry from these countries (e.g. H&M, Inditex and WAL-MART), the slight increase in the wages of these countries is minimal for the entire business model, because they include marketing, transportation, sales, customs duties and taxes, which account for only 2% to 3% of the total production cost. The rise in wages has further reduced the profits of local garment companies.

However, these garment retailers have found areas to replace Asia as production centers. H&M, Tesco and Primark have already begun to purchase from Ethiopia, because there is no minimum monthly salary limit, and for unskilled workers, the monthly salary is only 35 to 40 dollars, much lower than that in Burma. These foreign clothing merchants are very popular in African countries, and they also benefit a lot from the abundant local labor force and energy. The clothing industry in Kenya is also developing. Although the country's monthly salary is about 120 dollars, the government has attracted the foreign businessmen with abundant rewards.

Observers say that East African countries are expected to replace East Asia as clothing production centers. In contrast to East Asia, East African countries have lower clothing costs to Europe or the United States, in addition to cheap labour. In addition, African countries signed a special trade agreement with the United States in 2000, and American clothing entered the African market for tax exemption. With the development of local cotton industry in Africa, local resources can be purchased to further reduce costs.