CAF development bank of the Latin America to improve the social and economic condition of the small and medium-sized (SMEs) enterprises engaged in Peruvian textile and manufacturing sector together with multilateral organization has come up with a project, Fair Trade System.

The project is focused to help SMEs from the Peruvian regions of Arequipa, Cusco, Junin, Lima and Puno. It was divided into two phases, in the first phase the Peruvian textile and manufacturing cluster are provided technical training and assistance, while in the second stage the Fair Trade certification is issued that allows companies to access and participate in the trade network of fair and Ethic Trade.

In the CAF’s second stage of the program more than 80 SME’s participated. Some of them had the opportunity of displaying their products manufactured in first quality alpaca fiber, with novel designs and excellent manufacturing, in the 2014’s inaugural show of Peru Moda.

Furthermore, the SME’s got a chance to establish contact with international buyers in addition to placing their production through the 130 associations and cooperatives that manage 350 world stores in Italy.

This project has an allocated budget estimated at US$ 1 million. The programme is sponsored, by the Andean Nation's Export and Tourism Promotion Agency (PromPeru) and executed by the Italian Consortium CTM Altromercato.

According to Eleonora Silva, CAF's Director Representative in Peru, this project aims at not only provides training to the textile cluster, but also supports participation of Andean nation’s SMEs in domestic fairs such as Peru Moda and international fairs such as Ethical Fashion Show.