Fashion in Apulia. A sector to invest in.
Francesca Zampano -Director of Promotion of Trade, Crafts and Enterprise Internationalization - Apulia Region
The textile-clothing-footwear sector is an important factor in the Apulian economy, especially due to the breadth of its economic production, which shows the presence of 3,665 active companies in the region, with Apulian headquarters, employing a total of 34,463 workers in registered companies. (Source CCIABari, 24.3.2023).
It is one of the most solid productive sectors at a regional level, both in terms of ‘resilience’ and in its ability to express the authentic value of manufacturing excellence, recognised by the Made in Italy world-wide. On the export front, the statistics show us that after years of crisis the sector has shown positive signs of development in foreign markets. From 2016 to 2018 there was a steady growth trend, after the slight drop in 2019 and the pandemic crisis of 2020, the sector returned to sustained growth on foreign markets in both 2021 and 2022. In 2022, compared to the previous year, the increase was at 17 per cent with an absolute value of EUR 844.456 million compared to2021 (a period in which the export value stood at EUR 721.778 million, +17.5 per cent compared to2021) (Source: ICE Agency, July 2023).
This encouraging data directs us to focus investment on the internationalization of the sector through new actions, aimed at enhancing not only individual production capacities but also, and above, all the image of the entire sector. We are doing this through a plurality of systemic actions, in public-private partnerships, to enhance the reputation of the entire Apulian supply chain, delivering on communication of our excellence, and contributing to increasing the strength and visibility of our products, on a national and international scale. For years, our production capacity, the quality of our products, and our many years of experience have been recognized by major brands.
It is the right time to say something more. To add form to substance. To take every opportunity to ‘place on the catwalk’ the creativity and qualities that characterize ‘Made in Puglia’ products.
