Competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in the lingerie industry towards the Colombia-Canada free trade agreement and its progress in research and development
Abstract
Rev. Ploutos
This article describes the basics of the Free Trade Agreements (FTA), and their disadvantages and benefits, focusing on the Women’s Underwear Industry (WUI) and relating it to the Colombia-Canada FTA from the time of its implementation in 2011. It is through an exploratory analysis supported on the statistics of public and private agencies that the sector’s performance is shown, specifically in the segment of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), and concepts and perceptions of entrepreneurs in this industry are collected, providing important elements for further studies regarding what the implementation of research and development policies should be in order to improve the competitiveness of Colombian WUI SMEs in the Canadian market.