LAHORE: WWF Pakistan and All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) have agreed to carry out joint sustainability awareness sessions to ensure waste water reduction, capacity building, and reduction of carbon footprints in the textile industry through EU-funded, worth 7 million euro project NAMA.
This understanding was developed during the visit of a WWF-Pakistan delegation to the Northern office of the Association on Tuesday.
The delegation was consisted of Sohail Ali Naqvi, Director Freshwater Programme of WWF, Rashid Ahmed, Manager, Arjmand Qayyum, Senior Manager, and Irfah Kamil, senior officer.
Senior Vice Chairman Kamran Arshad and Secretary General APTMA Raza Baqir welcomed the delegation.
Director Freshwater Programme Naqvi said: ‘Smart and innovative solutions to conserve water, energy and other natural resources in textile sector can help reduce adverse environmental impacts, provide cost-saving opportunities and enhance overall revenue of industries. These solutions are being implemented in the industrial sector at a larger scale across Pakistan’.
He said the project had been launched by WWF-Pakistan under its six-year International Labour and Environmental Standards Application in Pakistan’s SMEs (ILES) project, funded by the European Union.
“The project is implemented in four major cities across Pakistan include Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Sialkot; and aims at supporting the economic integration of Pakistan into the global and regional economy by increasing exports through improved compliance and gaining confidence of international buyers.
According to him, the textile sector is key driver of Pakistan’s economy and provides employment to a considerable population. “The ILES project is striving hard to build the capacity of the public and private partners, providing them with technical support to achieve sustainable industrial growth,” he added.
He said the industry would be provided low interest loans under the programme to improve sustainability practices in the industry. Larger national banks had agreed to finance the initiative, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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