SMEDA report: Textile productivity can be increased by 20% 

Pakistan may increase production capability of its textile industries by up to 20% with little effort, which will help increase exports of the apparel industry, said Fayyaz Ahmed Riaz, DGM Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA).

He said that SMEDA has surveyed over 150 textile-related units with Japanese experts and found that there is immense room to enhance their efficiency by 15 to 20% with some effort.

He was speaking at a one-day workshop on ‘Evolving Paradigms in Pakistan’s Garment Industry’, jointly organized by SMEDA, United Nations Development Programmed (UNDP), GEN-PROM, gender promotion in garment industry through skills development in Sindh and Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) at the Federation House. He said these are critical times for Pakistan’s economy and demands from us to review our growth strategies with the fast changing world.

Amit Gugnani, Associate Vice President KSA-Technopak, India said that China, has a lion’s share in US imports, is now facing problems with the cost of quota, penal duties and rising cost of production in manufacturing. This is prime time for other regional countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to make use of this opportunity and increase their exports to the US.

While giving his presentation on ‘Global Trade Scenario’ he said changing world has brought various problems along with opportunities like rising cost of production and consumer inflation in regional countries. For example, there is 11.6% consumer inflation in Bangladesh, 14.1% in Vietnam, 5.5% in India, 7.4% in Indonesia, 11.9% in Pakistan and 8.2% in Turkey.

Pakistan should go for value added products as the largest category that is being traded in the world is of sweaters, jerseys and jackets for men and women. It is high time to redefine and improve overall business structures including training of employees.

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