In an endeavour to get textile value-added sector certified with social and safety compliances to enhance country's exports, the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) in collaboration with the SGS, a world's leading inspection and certification company, has organised a fire safety training workshop.
The daylong training programme was held at Pakistan Readymade Garments Technical Training Institute (PRGTTI), which was attended by a large number of industry representatives. PRGMEA Central Chairman Sajid Salim Minhas observed that the workshop was one of the series of fire safety trainings conducted by PRGMEA with a view to restore confidence of international buyers on Pakistani textile value-added products.
This is the first time when an international training workshop addressing the crucial industrial needs of fire safety and risk assessment was organised in Pakistan in collaboration with the SGS. The Association has already conducted successful training programmes in collaboration with WRAP in Lahore as well as Karachi, indicating the industry has started to take responsibility of adopting complete social and safety compliances.
Expressing serious reservations on hurdles created by bureaucracy in the way of industrialisation, he criticised the issuance of notices to industries by the Civil Defence, Labour and Environment Departments without even properly probing the issues and not doing enough to train the SME sector. He suggested the government that the field staff of those departments should be instructed to desist from such practices in future that were bound to undermine the government efforts to revive the economy.