Pak signs MoU with Netherlands for TDAP

10 Dec '15

2 min read

Pakistan and the Netherlands have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation for the institutional building of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and capacity building of other business support organizations (BSOs) in Pakistan and to provide export coaching programme to SMEs to meet the requirements of GSP-Plus.

The agreement was signed between the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and Center for Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI) in The Hague, Pakistani newspapers have reported.

Pakistani Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan who attended the signing ceremony, also held a meeting with the Dutch Minister for Trade and Development Cooperation Ms. Ploumen in Amsterdam and urged Dutch companies to invest in dairy, horticulture and agriculture and livestock research.

Dastgir invited the Dutch Minister to visit Pakistan for the Asian Living Wage Conference (ALWC). The Conference will be an international event about realizing living wages through social dialogue in the textile sector of eight Asian producing countries.

Its main aim is to highlight the need for living wages through social dialogue in a tripartite `plus' setting, i.e. linking governments and social partners in Asian countries to international buyers in a joint effort to realize living wages in textile supply chains. The ALWC will be a 2-day conference with around 150 participants, most notably high level government officials from hosts Pakistan, Asian countries and OECD governments as well as international brands, manufacturers, trade unions and other stakeholders.

He also thanked the Netherlands for supporting Pakistan's quest for GSP plus status and hoped that it will continue to support Pakistan's case in the EU in the future as well.

Dastgir also attended seminar on Global Value Chains and presented Pakistan's case especially in the textile sector.

He apprised the gathering regarding efforts of the Government to improve the working conditions in Pakistan. He said that with the grant of GSP plus to Pakistan, there is a growing urgency amongst the businessmen to know and implement good manufacturing practices to make workplaces more safe and accountable. Government of Pakistan and ILO have been partnering for many years to bring meaningful measures into the place. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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