Cotton Council International (CCI) — the Washington-based export promotion arm of The National Cotton Council, Memphis, Tenn. — has announced it will promote U.S. cotton and cotton textiles through its Cotton USA Sourcing Program at two upcoming trade shows in Central America.

CCI will host the Cotton USA Western Hemisphere Sourcing Fair 2013, to be held April 29-May 1 in Panama City, Panama. The fair will gather U.S. mills and retailers, European and Latin American retailers, and apparel manufacturing companies from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Peru, for a trade show, seminar and networking opportunities. Representatives from Cary, N.C.-based Cotton Incorporated will be on hand to answer questions about cotton product developments.

CCI also will host a pavilion at the Apparel Sourcing Show, to be held May 21-23 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The annual show, which is considered to be the most important textile and apparel fair produced in the Central American, Caribbean and U.S. region, will attract textile executives from the United States, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Mexico. U.S. mills participating in the Cotton USA Sourcing program will display high-quality cotton yarns and knit and woven fabrics at the pavilion and will be invited to a private event at the pavilion organized by CCI.