LAHORE, July 27: The ministry of industries and production has decided to evolve a concrete strategy for enabling Pakistan’s textile garments sector competitive in the quota-free WTO regime. The steering committee formed by the ministry in this regard met here at the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) head office. The meeting was attended by Smeda CEO Shahab Khawaja, Technology Upgradation and Skill Development Company (TUSDEC) Chairman Almas Hyder, Khawaja Belal Ahmad, Awais M. Hussain, Azfar Hassan, Syed Mohammad Jawad Ahsen, Saquib Mohyuddin, Hina Tayyaba and Syed Iqbal A. Kidwai.

The project recommended by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet will focus on the enhancement of capacity of knitwear and woven garment units, both in terms of human resources and technology, so that Pakistan’s products could be competitive viz-a-viz its competitors like China, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Hyder said the TUSDEC had been assigned to work on the enhancement of productivity and value-addition in the textile garment industry. The ongoing meetings with the stakeholders were part of the efforts to formulate a strategy for making the industry competitive in the international markets, he said.

Mr Hyder said under the project leading companies were being selected to act as role model for other companies of the sector during the process of productivity and value-addition enhancement. He said financial assistance would be provided to the selected companies for hiring foreign consultants, who would not only be instrumental in enhancing company’s capacity but also help develop human resource in the textile garments sector. The TUSDEC chief said a final strategy for launch and execution of the pilot project would be submitted to the minister for industries and production by August 6.

The Smeda CEO said the minister for industries and production had asked for the formulation of a programme to help garments sector in post-quota regime. He said four sub-committees had been formed to formulate recommendations for productivity enhancement, export market, design consultancy and financial restructuring of the textile garment sector.