Once more, the Compagnie Mauricienne de Textile (CMT) has shown how well it is doing. Thanks to this firm, which is numbered among the ?most successful textile companies? on the island, the 750 employees of Kentex Garments will not lose their jobs. The factory has been bought out and is now known as CMT Pamplemousses.

After the Crystal group from Hong Kong announced that it was moving back to China, employees of Kentex knew their jobs were were in danger. Sinotex, the other firm belonging to Crystal in Mauritius had already closed down and everyone was awaiting the next closure.

Fortunately, CMT had announced its intention of expanding its activities and investing Rs 700 million to increase its production capacity. For once, one company?s plight was another company?s? opportunity. This was a fortunate coincidence for both?

CMT has bought the company with all its equipment and all jobs will be saved thanks to this acquisition. Employees have also received a good compensation from their former employer, Crystal, and will start working with CMT under new conditions. The factory has already started to work ?normally?, whereas it had been slowing down its activities for one month because of a rise in production costs.

CMT?s ?aggressivity? in a context that many consider as tough for the textile sector gives a lot of hope for the future. ?To survive in a world without quotas, we must become a huge company and preserve our flexibility at the same time,? explains François Woo. ?The purchase of a company from Hong-Kong by the CMT gives hope to the whole country. We believe in the future of textiles. We must keep the faith.?

<B>Better working conditions </B>

The least we can say is that the managers of CMT do keep the faith. The firm intends to build a new garment-making factory in La Tour Koenig which will absorb the whole production of its spinning mill. There is room for 1,000 more employees that CMT will take on if necessary.

Likewise, they are working on the construction of a third factory in Phoenix to increase production capacity and avoid congestion in the two other factories where there is no more room. In Curepipe, a new building will open soon to enable employees to work in better conditions. For the moment, the 750 employees are in the building previously occupied by Leisure Garments but François Woo considers that they are too cramped on those premises.

It seems that at least some stakeholders in the textile sector have a bright future ahead?