Pakistan govt to launch textile skill development program

28 Jun '14

2 min read

The Ministry of Textile Industry, Government of Pakistan, would be launching a skill development programme in the new textile policy 14-19 that is to be announced in July 2014, Textile Minister Abbas Khan Afridi has said, reports Dawn.

Talking to members of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) in Karachi, Mr. Afridi said the main objective of the skill development programme would be to make skilled workforce available to the country’s textile industry and make it more competitive in the global market.

As per the yet to be announced scheme, the Ministry of Textile Industry would bear all the cost of imparting training, including stipend to the trainees and raw material cost.

An amount of Pk Rs. 4.4 billion has been set aside for the programme, which would train about 120,000 youth over the next five-year period. During the training programme, likely to be of four-to-six month duration, each trainee would be given a stipend of Rs. 8,000 per month.

During the discussion, the Federal Minister hinted that gas tariff may increase further and advised the textile industry to immediately convert their captive power plants from gas-based to coal-based to ensure continuation of energy at lower prices.

Speaking recently at a meeting organized by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Mr. Afridi said the Textile Policy 2014-19 would revive the country’s textile and garment industry and promote value-addition to achieve US$ 1 billion growth in the sector’s exports every year.

He said the upcoming policy was being framed in consultation with all the stakeholders, and it would cater to the needs of the entire chain of the textile industry, rather than a single segment. However, the focus would be on encouraging exports of value-added textile products rather than raw material or semi-finished goods.

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