Mexico is the Latin American leader in clothing exports to the U.S. market, and considered the world’s largest, said Sergio Lopez de la Cerda, president of the National Chamber of Apparel Industry. In the past three years, Mexico’s annual growth was 10 percent.

“In the recent months, we have become the sixth largest exporter to the United States. It is important to emphasize that the American market is the largest market in clothing consumption in the world,” he said. Also, despite how hard the first semester in the world economy is, the garment sector in Mexico grew a total of 7,500 formal jobs to reach a figure of 315,000 direct jobs and about a million places indirect.

“We are the fifth industrial activity in manufacturing jobs in the national GDP. That speaks of the great strength for our industry,” de la Cerda added.

They also expect that growth in the sector at national level for this year to be close to five percent. In other news, Sergio Lopez said the Council of Fashion in Jalisco, in the form of Minerva Fashion, has been the model that drove the national scheme. It works in the sectors of jewelry, footwear, leather, textiles and clothing, and has had a major national impact.