'Pakistan textile industry needs skilled workforce'

27 Nov '13

2 min read

Continuous training for steadily building a skilled workforce has become imperative for Pakistani textile and apparel industry to sustain global competition, particularly in view of the expected EU’s approval for generalised system of preference (GSP) plus status for Pakistan, National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) Regional Director Hassan Nasir Jamy has said.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of training of trainers on ‘Apparel Manufacturing and Management’, he said EU GSP Plus status ensures duty free entry of Pakistani textile and apparel goods in the EU. This would certainly lead to a rise in exports of these items, which obviously would perk up the need for skilled manpower. Hence, it is crucial to build a skilled workforce through vocational training, he added.

The ceremony was organised by the Punjab chapter of United Nations Development Programme’s Promoting Employment and Productivity in Garment Industry (UNDP PEPGI).

Pakistani clothing sector has immense potential, with the textile industry employing around 40 percent of the country’s overall industrial workforce, PEPGI representative Mehmood ul Hassan said.

However, he stressed on the need for harmonising the efforts of training institutes imparting skill training to workers to ensure best utilization of scarce resources.

Principal of Pakistan Readymade Garments Technical Training Institute, Kamran Yousaf Sandhu, agreed that the requirement for skilled workforce would rise as garments exports are likely to jump after Pakistan earns the GSP Plus status.

Appreciating the Training of Trainers initiative, Advance Fashion (Pvt.) Limited representative Tahir Rasool stressed on the need for encouraging such trainings for building a pool of skilled labour for garment industry.

Sharing similar views, National Project Manager, PEPGI Project Punjab, Shoeb Iqbal Syed said PEPGI selected 1,100 candidates out of 150,000 candidates and imparted training to them. These candidates further imparted training to 20,000 garment workers.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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