Canadian apparel company Gildan Activewear Inc. announced the expansion of its offshore operations in the Dominican Republic during a meeting at the Presidential Palace yesterday, Thursday 7 March. Company executives met with President Danilo Medina. The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Jose del Castillo and Luisa Fernandez of the National Export Free Zone Council were also present.
The Montreal-based firm is building a 110,000 square foot factory, an announced RD$1 billion investment, which will be completed by the end of this year and is expected to reach full production capacity within the next few years. Described as the largest industrial plant built ever in the Dominican Republic, it is expected to create 3,000 jobs. The plant will produce 100% cotton T-shirts. The company anticipates future expansion on the site. The plan is for the fabric produced at the site to be sewn in both the Dominican Republic and in Haiti, where a Gildan integrated sewing plant is located. The announcement was made by Javier Echeverria, executive vice president for the Caribbean area and general manager of Gildan in the Dominican Republic. He said that the company already has invested US$200 million in its installations in the DR.
Gildan is a leading supplier of quality branded basic family apparel, including T-shirts, fleece, sport shirts, socks and underwear.
Gildan owns and operates vertically integrated, large-scale manufacturing facilities most of which are located in Central America and the Caribbean Basin to efficiently service the replenishment needs of its customers in the printwear and retail markets.
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