On March 15-19, 2021, CLDP, in coordination with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), conducted a multi-track virtual training for 19 Salvadoran and 1 Honduran representative from the public, private, and academic sectors within the textile and apparel industry.

In preparation for the multi-track training, CLDP, USTR, and the University of Missouri, identified 20 textile representatives to participate as Capstone Finalists for the week-long professional development opportunity to build capacity in 4 critical areas: marketing, innovation, supply chain management, and the CAFTA-DR. Based on submitted proposals and identified areas of expertise, finalists were apportioned between the areas of focus for a total of 5 participants in each of the four tracks: CAFTA-DR, Innovation, Marketing, and Supply Chain Management.

U.S. academic and industry specialists in each area of focus developed tailored presentations, case studies, and illustrative resources such as decision trees, flow charts, and summaries. The experts lead discussions and interactive working sessions to address specific issues faced by the Salvadoran and Honduran representatives. Across the four workstreams, U.S. experts shared best practices on practical methods to improve marketing strategies, strengthen communication, enhance innovation, develop business opportunities, improve supply chain efficiencies, and address sourcing issues within the CAFTA region. Informal networking sessions – CAFTA Coffee, Innovation Conversation, Marketing Meetup, and Supply Chain Sit-Down – were also included each day to enable participants to have casual conversations with colleagues in their respective fields and expand their professional networks.

The objective of this targeted professional development training is to develop resident experts in the four areas of focus to serve as local resources for textile representatives in El Salvador and the broader Northern Triangle region. To foster sustainable information sharing networks, the participants met throughout the week to develop plans to share their knowledge and skills acquired during the program with industry colleagues in the region. The multi-track training concluded with a joint session with all 20 participants discussing business fundamentals, providing final reflections, and presenting their work-stream specific knowledge sharing plans.

As a result of this multi-track training, industry representatives from the Northern will be better able to utilize the CAFTA-DR to source yarn and textiles, strengthen the regional supply chains, enhance innovations, and expand their marketing strategies thereby increasing economic growth and development for the industry in the region. The multi-track training contributes to the CLDP/USTR Program’s sustainability efforts through educational exchange opportunities between the participants, U.S. experts, and U.S. Universities.

This training forms part of the CLDP/USTR capacity-building program to improve regional prosperity by fostering human and institutional capacity to improve the competitiveness of the Salvadoran textile industry.