Liliana Carrillo V. / La Paz
The motto of Irma Acme Vargas, owner of Conaintex (National Textile Industry Corporation), is: “You have to know how to manage a company to be able to manage a country.” For two decades, the entrepreneur from El Alto has come a long way to export her production to several countries and even open a plant in the United States.
On Thursday, she received the certification that made her a member of the Bolivian American Chamber of Commerce, after her training at Amcham Junior Bolivia and the results obtained. “Joining Amcham has been a great opportunity for us. When we were looking for markets, we have arrived in wonderland with a huge market,” says Doña Irma.
His clothing company was born with the new century. In principle there were four machines in a “little room of four meters”. Today, the Conaintex factory has 250 state-of-the-art machines and 780 square meters on three levels. “Production is mainly intended for large foreign customers because the domestic market has become small,” says the businesswoman who maintains her plant in Las Retamas alteñas.
“For me it is a privilege to leave from the city of El Alto and to have been able to open a company in the United States, which will serve as a platform to export other Bolivian products. We have the objective of putting the El Alto, Bolivian and Latin American industry in the world. The effort that we are going to make from now on is not to obtain titles, it is to contribute to the country,” says Acme, determined as when, being very young, she decided to venture into the textile industry with no more weapons than an iron will.
“Conaintex was born with the solidarity feeling of the industrial revolution. Bolivia has production capacity, but unfortunately it does not show its quality due to the type of material used, which is third class. We have to demonstrate excellence; the Bolivian is worthy in every sense of the word. I want to highlight that industrial energy of El Alto”, Irma emphasizes that, according to her employees, it is a whirlwind that does not stop.
But it has not been easy to reach the position in which he finds himself, as manager of one of the 60 companies in the country that exports to the United States thanks to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). “As a woman from El Alto I have suffered machismo and racism, let’s be honest. But neither have I left or gone to fight, on the contrary, I emphasized that I am from El Alto and a woman, yes, but I run a corporation and the last decision is made by me.
The character was born with her, but was reinforced in her hometown. “We people from El Alto are revolutionaries but capitalists. El Alto is not satisfied and evolves and works to have and offer the best. As the municipal or national governments gave us opportunities, we have searched by our means because when you want, you can”.
Since she opened her plant in the United States, in the midst of a pandemic, Doña Irma’s life has been divided between El Alto and Miami, although electronic marketing helps. “Businessmen must not forget that we have guts and that work is our letter of introduction,” she emphasizes.
