Costa Rica promotes itself as textile hub
South Korea’s SAE-A Spinning is ploughing $50 million into a new thread manufacturing plant in Costa Rica, as the Latin American country promotes itself as a new hub for textile manufacturing.
The thread produced at the factory in Cartago will be exported to manufacture apparel primarily in the Americas.
Kwang Ho Yoo, president of SAE-A-Spinning, said it is investing in the long term because of the “good business climate” and the commercial advantages of DR-CAFTA trade agreement.
"If we achieve the yields and success expected, we will even consider exploring opportunity for a second investment to complement the one we are announcing,” he said. “Resources invested in Costa Rica, including high-tech machinery, systems, technologies and skills, are planned for the long term, more than 30 years.”
Gabriela Llobet, director of export promotion agency CINDE, added: "Our country is a highly competitive export platform for companies wanting to access the world's main markets, thanks to our network of trade agreements and strategic location.”
SAE-A Spinning has apparel manufacturing plants in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia, with global sales of over $1.5 billion.
Canadian firm Gildan Sportwear recently announced it will be setting up a textile production plant in Guanacaste.
