SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—One of Haiti’s biggest textile factories announced that it is closing an assembly plant and laying off 3,500 workers in yet another blow to the country’s crumbling economy.
S&H Global, whose parent company is South Korean garment manufacturer Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd., said in a statement on Thursday that strikes and social unrest have led to numerous delays in shipments, order cancelations and other problems. As a result, the company said its clients have opted to use other more reliable suppliers and factories elsewhere in the Caribbean and Central America.
The announcement comes as poverty and hunger deepens across Haiti amid a spike in gang violence.
S&H Global is the anchor tenant at a major U.S.-backed industrial park in Caracol in northern Haiti. The park opened in 2012 and is believed to be Haiti’s largest private employer.
At the time, S&H Global announced it was investing more than $70 million to create some 20,000 jobs.
Officials with Haiti’s Association of Industries did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
