Opportunities for Textile, Apparel, Footwear and Leather Industry

1. Opportunities for Textile, Apparel, Footwear and Leather Industry

2. Textile, Apparel, Footwear & Leather Industry • Moldovan manufacturers have been working for • many years with renowned foreign brands – • both fashionable and mass market brands. • Companies from Italy, Germany, Netherlands, • France, Austria, Belgium, and Great Britain • source and produce here. • And with a good reason: Moldova delivers fast, flexible and with highest quality levels ! • Relocation of production capacity to Moldova • • Sourcing and placement of orders • • Forming Joint Ventures Goods that can be produced competitively in Moldova Textile Apparel Accessories Leather Carpets Footwear

3. Textile, Apparel, Footwear and Leather Industry – SWOT Analysis

4. TAFL competences in Moldova

5. TAFL industry work force/ Education • Moldova has a long tradition in apparel and textile industry since the ex USSR and continued development in the early 90’s. • The apparel companies do not need to start from Greenfield, but rather Brownfieldusing existing skills and tradition. • Many local companied started to invest in modern equipment e.g. sewing machines, automats, cutters, spreading machines, plotters, CAD/CAM, etc. • Apparel companies are mainly located in Chisinau, Balti, Soroca, and Cahul. • Some companies are located in Ungheni(carpet manufacturing, car seat covers, uniforms, footwear, etc), Comrat, Orhei, Basarabeasca, Causeni and other cities. • The Education system continues the specialization in apparel and textile industry i.e. : • Technical University, faculty of light industry, • Pedagogical State University in apparel design, • Academy of Arts in apparel design, • Light Industry College from Chisinau • Light industry College from Balti, • Vocational schools from Chisinau, Balti, Soroca, Orhei, Cahul, Ungheni, etc.

6. Light industry education/ Universities • Technical University from Chisinau (UTM) www.utm.md ; • Faculty of Light Industry; focused on training in Engineering and Garments construction profile. • Department of “Technology and engineering of garments”; • Department of “Technology of leather and leather articles processing”; • “Construction of garments” • “Garments design”, etc. • State University “Alecu Russo” from Balti • Specialization of “Engineering and management in automobile construction”, since 01 September 2012 in Cooperation with Draexlmaier Automotive and University of Applied Sciences Landshut, Germany; • The students are trained in both theory and practice for the demands of the automotive and supply industry; • Many courses are held in German and English. • Pedagogical State University of Moldova from Chisinau • Faculty of Garments design; • Academy of Arts of Moldova • Faculty of Garments design

7. Overview of Cahul light industry • Main manufacturers in Cahul are companies with foreign capital in apparel industry. • The majority of companies are specialized in knitwear and textile garments. • Austrian Joint Venture Tricon SA, cca 680 employees; • Italian capital company ICS “LaboratorioTessileMol” SRL, cca 400 employees in 2 shifts; • ICS “Tricou Fantasy” SRL, cca 80 employees. • ICS „Franco Sossi” SRL, located in suburb of Cahul, village Colibaş – 25 km • The average gross salary of sewers in Cahul as of March 2014, cca 3000 MDL (cca EUR 170). • TRICON SA production:

8. Overview of Soroca light industry • Main manufacturers in Soroca garments industry are companies with foreign capital. • ICS SotexGrup SRL (US capital, garments, winter mantel), cca 265 employees; • ICS Maritansor SRL (Italian capital, footwear), cca 200 employees; • ICS Ermogrup SRL (Italian capital, garments), cca 400 employees; • There are few shoes producers between 5 to 100 employees; • Soroca has good tradition in production of leather shoes and textile garments; • The main employer in Soroca was the knitted factory, with over 2000 employees; • Average gross salary for sewers in Soroca as of March 2014, are cca 2800 MDL (cca EUR 160).

9. Potential business in apparel sector • Long tradition of Moldova in apparel sector; • Complex education system, i.e. Technical University, State University, Light industry colleges, Vocational Schools, etc. • Dynamic developing of automotive components sector; • Rossovivo– car protection covers (transportation). Announced the extension to Moldova with a brownfield plant. • Grow in 2-3 years to 1,000+ employees; • Car Seats trim covers. Example: Lear Corporation- successful plant in FEZ Ungheni Business. • Few Global companies are analyzing Moldova as potential location for relocation in different regions of Moldova; • Traditional TAFL industry: • Local companies successfully growing with own brands. Some of them are promoting own brand goods for export; • Foreign companies especially Italian, Romanian companies developing in Moldova; • Exploring the tradition in footwear manufacturing; • Targeting CIS market (especially Russia, through Moldova Free trade agreement) and EU market (through the existing Autonomous preferences and upcoming DCFTA agreement), and local market;