IMF's Lagarde studies bag-making in Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast is the world’s biggest producer of cocoa and among the top five coffee producers. Both of those commodities are exported in jute bags made at the Filtisac factory in Abidjan.
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, views high-speed looms at the Filtisac bag factory in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Jan. 8, 2013.THIERRY GOUEGNON/Reuters
A worker patrols the factory grounds during the visit by Ms. Lagarde. Filtisac started production in 1967, making five million jute bags annually. Today the factory has a capacity of 30 million bags per year.THIERRY GOUEGNON/Reuters
Amid a much praised post-war economic turnaround, Ivory Coast registered economic growth of more than 8.5 per cent in 2012, following a 4.7-per-cent contraction in 2011.THIERRY GOUEGNON/Reuters
Ms. Lagarde watches the production process. The Filtisac factory employs about 1,200 people.THIERRY GOUEGNON/Reuters
Ivory Coast is the world’s biggest producer of cocoa and among the top five coffee producers. Filtisac’s bags meet international standards for the packaging of both commodities.THIERRY GOUEGNON/Reuters
Ivory Coast’s government forecasts 9 per cent growth in 2013.THIERRY GOUEGNON/Reuters
An employee sews bags at the Filtisac factory.THIERRY GOUEGNON/Reuters
Ivory Coast completed economic reforms last year with the assistance of the IMF.THIERRY GOUEGNON/Reuters