On June 14-15, CLDP, in collaboration with USTR, conducted the final event of the four-year textiles competitiveness program, Building El Salvador’s Trade and Competitiveness in Textiles & Apparel to Strengthen Regional Economic Prosperity.

Through the Program, CLDP/USTR trained a cohort of 20 Salvadoran and Honduran textiles representatives to serve as resident experts in four focus areas - marketing strategies, supply chain resilience, innovative product design, and the CAFTA-DR.

Since December 2020, the resident experts have been preparing knowledge sharing plans, interactive tools, social media networks, and critical resources to strengthen the Salvadoran textile industry by fostering human and institutional capacity. In March 2021, CLDP held a 5-day, multi-track training on marketing, innovation, supply chain management, and textile provisions of the U.S. – Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) to develop the 20 resident experts to serve as local resources for textile and apparel colleagues across Central America and further strengthen the competitiveness of the Salvadoran textile 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 the four identified workstreams. 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. To foster sustainable information sharing networks, the participants developed plans to share their knowledge and skills acquired during the program with industry colleagues in the region.

In June 2021, CLDP coordinated working sessions and initial presentations to elicit and integrate critical industry feedback into the knowledge sharing plans. During the working sessions in each of the four areas of focus, the 20 resident experts presented draft implementation plans to topic-specific experts for targeted feedback. 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 region. The following week, the 20 resident experts formally presented their knowledge sharing plans to a broader audience of more than 100 textile and apparel representatives from across Central America’s Northern Triangle. Building in this week between engagements enabled the participants to incorporate input from the working sessions and fine tune their plans before the formal presentations to the broader group.

During the final Passing of the Torch event, resident experts in each of the four areas of focus showcased their plans to share knowledge acquired in CLDP/USTR trainings with the regional textiles industry and institute a sustained capacity-building initiative with a broader impact. The event also featured welcome remarks from the Minister of Economy, sessions on the available tools and resources from Salvadoran government agencies, universities, and local entrepreneurs to support small businesses. The event forms part of CLDP’s broader initiative of bolstering the human and institutional capacity of the textiles industry to improve economic opportunities in Northern Central America.

As a result of the intensive CLDP/USTR trainings, the resident experts will support industry representatives increase effective utilization of the CAFTA-DR to source yarn and textiles, strengthen regional supply chains, enhance innovations, and expand marketing strategies thereby increasing economic growth and development for the industry in the region. The development of resident textile and apparel experts contributes to the Program’s sustainability efforts through self-sustaining information sharing networks across the region.