#4407: Gill on textiles in Haiti: reply to Poincy (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: markgill <markgill@clas.net>

all other arguments aside, if we see declining wages, which in fact started
in l980, and has not stopped, then the bottom line question is:  is there an
internal market sufficient for investment in textile manufacturing?  are
Haitians willing to invest in such a development?  not at this point, in
that the market demand is quite poor....

those who have money prefer western clothing....those who dont can buy the
second-hand clothing from Miami cheaper than they could clothing made in
Haiti.....

until this situation changes, i doubt there will be any textile industry
growth.....just getting farmers to grow cotton will be difficult in
itself....i say this given the attempts we made at one point -l995-l996, to
"test the waters" about cotton....we were looking for anything, quite
frankly, that we could become involved in....