Despite the economic crisis, the central Italian region of Umbria has increased cashmere exports by 20-30% during the last two years, thanks to Asian people love for its excellent productions.

There are about 500 cashmere makers in Umbria, and only 20% of their production is sold to the Italian market. Asia in general, and China and India in particular, account for much of the rest.

The good performance of the cashmere districts has positive implications in terms of employment: since more than 70 percent of cashmere manufacturing remains manual, the district needs to keep on hiring young people to survive.

Follow @castaritaHK