Nicaragua expects to reach US$5,000 million in exports in 2014

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Jan. 30, 2014 - PRLog -- Nicaragua expects to reach US$2,500 million in traditional exports and a similar amount in the textile industry based on an increased investment and increased production in the free zones in 2014. General Presidential Delegate for Investments, Alvaro Baltodano, stated that these figures exceed total exports of last year, which were around US$4,700 million, including textiles.

Preliminary numbers stated that in 2013 the value of exports of Nicaragua totaled US$2,566 million, 13.95 percent less than the sales of 2012. And the textile sector exported around US$2,150 million, according to the presidential delegate of PRONicaragua.

"We have significant investments in the country that will increase product exports," said Baltodano. Among them, the Honduran group Karim’s will invest US$35 million in the reopening of a textile plant in Nicaragua, which had temporarily closed its operations due to the economic crisis of 2009.

The President of that group, Yusuf Amdani, stated to reporters that the textile company, which was operated by the U.S. firm Cone Denim, of the International Textile Group, and will now be named Pride Denim Mills, will generate 600 direct jobs in its first phase. According to Amdani, the company will produce denim fabric, incorporating from spinning to finished fabric, an annual production capacity of 28 million yards.

Similarly, the German company Draexlmaier will invest US$10 million in the expansion of their automotive harnesses plant in the department of Masaya, Nicaragua. In the same way, Grupo Lala, one of the largest dairy companies in Mexico, will invest about US$50 million in the country in order to set up a milk processing plant and dairy products.

Last year was also a year of growth for Nicaragua’s investment, registering an estimate of US$1,500 million in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows at year end, a 17 percent increase compared to 2012 and marking the highest historical figure the country has ever reached.