ArmInfo. Alex Textile LLC has launched construction of a knitwear manufacturing unit in Yerevan. The construction will be completed either in late 2017 or in early 2018, Alex Textile Director Marat Movsisyan told reporters on March 20 during the official visit of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan accompanied by Minister of Economic Development and Investments Suren Karayan. "We have already presented our project of the knitwear manufacturing unit construction to the President. The unit will be built in the site adjacent to the hosiery production unit of our company. This will allow our manufacturers to supply their goods faster, because both speed and quality matter in textile industry," he said.
Movsisyan noted that since the launch of the company (2015) investments have amounted to EUR 7 million, and the number of jobs has reached nearly 500. He added that 2,000 additional jobs will shortly be created and production units will also be launched in the provinces of Armenia. Movsisyan noted that Alex Textile is currently negotiating on cooperation with well-known supplier such as Zara and H&M.
Armen Osipyan, the head of the hosiery production unit, said that the unit employs 80 people. The raw materials are imported from Uzbekistan and Italy, and 20% of the products are exported mainly to Russia.
Zhora Movsisyan, the textile production manager, told reporters that the unit started operating a month ago and the number of employees is 300, with the average salary being 110 thsd AMD. The products of this unit are completely supplied to the well-known Russian "Detskiy Mir" company, whose trade chain has 600 stores.
To note, President Serzh Sargsyan accompanied by the Minister of Economic Development and Investments Suren Karayan, management of Alex Textile and guests, toured the production units of the company, familiarized himself with the investments, production capacities, operations aimed at equipping the units with modern facilities, as well as with export volumes and the company's development programs.
To recall, according to the data of 2016, there were 167 enterprises in Armenia's light industry and their total output amounted to 13.1 bln AMD (up 16.1% versus 2015). Exports totaled 7.58 bln AMD (up 71.8%). As many as 3927 people are employed in the light industry of the country.