Quindío comes closer to having its own leather clust - leatherbiz: Lea Leatherbiz

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Quindío comes closer to having its own leather cluster

25/08/2017
The authorities in the Colombian department of Quindío have held new talks about organising the tanning industry in the Andean region into a formal cluster. The idea has been on the table for some years, but a meeting in late August involving the departmental government’s industry minister, Jorge Humberto Guevara, has restored hope.

Mayors from important municipalities, academics and representatives of the regional chamber of commerce also took part in the meeting.

The minister said he hoped the cluster can come to fruition because a more formal connection among local tanners would, he said, increase the leather industry’s potential for creating “decent, high-quality jobs, which is what this department needs”.

Executive director of the Quindío chamber of commerce, Rodrigo Estrada, said the various interested parties would now set up a technical project committee to get the cluster idea up and running, which he said will help the department’s economy substantially. “We’re going to bring an end to exporting raw hides,” he said, “and instead we’re going to turn those hides into high-quality finished leather.” He added that 80% of hides leave Quindío unprocessed at the moment.

According to the chamber of commerce, there could be more than 130 companies in the region with links to the leather industry, including tanneries, finished leathergoods and footwear manufacturers and chemical suppliers.


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