California Apparel News

The president of Guatemala opened the 24th edition of the Apparel Sourcing Show in Guatemala City on Tuesday.

The show has been going strong for more than two decades and many of the local apparel and textile industry leaders were on hand for a breakfast inside a large ballroom where President Otto Perez Molina was one of several people who talked about building up the apparel and textile industry, which grew at about 4 percent last year.

He promised that even though his four-year term is up in January, the government will keep pushing for more investment in the sector that is still the largest export industry for Guatemala.

However, one apparel industry sourcing expert noted that the president failed to mention the crisis that is hounding his government. On May 8, Guatemala's Vice President, Roxana Baldetti, resigned over a corruption scandal that implicated her personal secretary as the head of a customs bribery ring involving tens of millions of dollars.

Even though Baldetti has maintained her innocence, a demonstration of 60,000 people took place recently calling for the president to resign too. He said he is staying on.

But the Apparel Sourcing Show went on. Cotton Council International had a large presence as usual with its cotton-studded pavilion that housed booths for Swisstex Direct and Antex Knitting from Los Angeles as well as Buhler Quality Yarns, Hamrick Mills and Parkdale.

The show opened at 10 a.m. and goes on from May 19-21.