NEWS

Giorgio Borgognoni strategy consultant of Fruscìo

Manufacturing on commission in Tunisia after the revolution. A direct testimony of a company that has been operating for years in North Africa

On the ground of the recent civil mobilization, how does the industrial Tunisian scenario change?

The internal situation in Tunisia is still very confused since all government points of  reference have been lost. Nouvelle Ere (partner of Fruscìo) went back to work soon after the revolution but the working personnel, women for the most part, are absent-minded, they are worried about their brothers, husbands, fathers or sons which are often in the streets.

Production, logistic facilities and the customs system have held up well and it seems to us that there is a desire of starting working again. Basically people asked and are still asking to work and to cancel import taxes which make mass consumption goods unaccessible.

Which prospects for Fruscìo Group?

Fruscìo is evaluating this situation to avoid facing this sort of emergency in the future. New production sites, always in the Mediterranean area, are taken into consideration. Far East results always less convenient except for purchasing certain fabrics and specific types of accessories. For the moment we will try to keep the production in Tunisia, a country that played an important role in the growth of our company, Fruscìo is really grateful to this nation.

The back flow from China does not stop on behalf of production in North Africa or in the East European countries. Could you please feature the situation?

This is a tsunami rather than a simple flow back. Brands which reappeared in the Mediterranean are many. This has caused a slight but significant increase in the cost of façon. Globalization moves forward taking into account a careful reading of macroeconomic data and of the exchange rate. The “hand to hand era of negotiation” is over. Manufacturers, even those who apparently seem “unprepared”  know perfectly how prices change in the Far East according to the inflation rate, the trend of dollar, and workers’ demands. Emerging manufacturing economies are exactly in line, this brings an increase in the quality of product and push again the competition towards efficiency, entrepreneurial skills in terms of research and development, innovation, interpretation of the consumers’ needs: three factors which have distinguished the Italian entrepreneurs which operate in the world of fashion since ever.