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The article takes the view that competitiveness and social cohesion are complementary variables. In Yucatan non-inclusive models of economic growth have prevailed: the production of sisal during the twentieth century and the maquiladora industry for export, particularly clothing, in the last two decades. Currently, the maquiladoras are leaving Yucatan; nearly 100 companies have closed down and around twenty thousand jobs have been lost; however, there remain about two thousand micro and small businesses from the garment industry which are an important economic asset. The paper explores the possibility of moving towards an inclusive model of economic development that simultaneously promotes competitiveness (efficiency) and social cohesion (equity) in the garment industry with a resolute policy of promoting the development of technological capabilities and the formation of human capital, as an objective basis for improving workers' income and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]