HAITI: First training centre opens for garment workers

Source: Just-style

By: just-style.com | 12 August 2010

Moves to rebuild Haiti's textile and apparel industry following the devastating earthquake that hit the country earlier this year have taken another step forward with the opening of its first job training centre for garment workers.

The new Haiti Apparel Center (HAC), which was inaugurated yesterday (11 August), will train more than 2,000 people a year to help meet the industry's need for skilled workers.

As well as providing vocational training, the facility should also help Haiti to maximise the benefits of the Haitian Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act, which was signed into law in May and improves US market access for Haitian apparel exports.

"The new training centre will play a key role in developing Haiti's garment industry and leading the nation to a more prosperous and stable path," said Ambassador Kenneth H Merten.

The centre is part of a four-year, $104.8m USAID project to improve the manufacturing skills of workers involved in the textile industry, including sewing machine operators and mechanics, and quality-control supervisors. The facility, which is located in the Sonapi industrial park near the garment factories in and around Port-au-Prince, also offers executive seminars to senior managers, factory owners and leaders in the business community.

"In the last 30 years, the number of skilled garment workers in Haiti has dramatically declined, but we hope to reverse that trend," explained Paul Weisenfeld, USAID's coordinator of the Haiti task team.

He added: "The apparel centre promotes economic recovery and long-term growth and helps Haiti tap into the tremendous potential of the garment industry. It will provide opportunities to improve the lives of thousands by increasing job skills and enabling Haitians to earn more."

As the single largest sector of Haiti's economy, the apparel industry is seen as playing a leading role in the country's overall recovery from the magnitude 7 earthquake that struck the capital Port-au-Prince in January, killing 300,000 people, destroying countless factories and jobs in the process .

Before the disaster, clothing exports to the US were around $512m in 2009, and the industry employed more than 25,000 Haitians.

New laws to help stimulate growth and recovery include the HELP Act, which extends duty-free benefits for some knit and woven apparel products imported into the US from Haiti.

It also promotes investment in Haiti and supports the rebuilding of the garment sector, which is likely to cost $38m to refurbish damaged buildings, replace machinery and train new employees.

However, industry executives told just-style earlier this week that while Haiti's textile and apparel production has neared pre-earthquake levels, reconstruction efforts remain slow and pose a threat to future competition. They claim a mere 3% of the international aid promised in the wake of the disaster has reached the country.