Chairman APTMA S M Tanveer has said the textile industry of Pakistan is focused on making the best use of GSP Plus facility from the EU, which is an evident from the fact that country's exports to EU have increased by 29 percent during January to November 2014.
He was speaking after welcoming the Ms Jean Lambert, Chair, Green/European Free Alliance and EU Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark along with other members of the mission at the APTMA Punjab office. Group leader APTMA Gohar Ejaz, besides the APTMA members, was also present on the occasion.
He said Pakistan's textile industry, on a fair trading basis, is one of the most competitive in the world. The garment industry is energised, and is looking for new avenue. However, productivity of garment industry is comparatively low, and thus requires assistance from the EU. He proposed that the master trainers can train our trainers for improvement in productivity.
S M Tanveer said that APTMA had undertaken a number of initiatives, including setting up of a Sustainable Production Centre for energy efficiency, renewable energy and environment, besides ensuring high level of Corporate Social Responsibility and water conservation, to keep the textile industry at par with global standards and expectations. We follow best practices in relation to Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) for the production of cotton, he added.
He said APTMA was also working with the government of Punjab for implementation of 27 UN Conventions relating to the EU GSP Plus programme. Gohar Ejaz said the APTMA has envisioned creation of 3 million new direct jobs to reduce poverty level, double textile exports from $13 billion to $26 billion, focusing value-addition, additional investment of $5 billion in machinery and technology in next five years and make Pakistan textile industry a dependable supply source.
He urged the visiting EU delegation to join hands to change Pakistan's perception, cooperate on energy availability at affordable rates, ensure joint initiative on match making for trade and investment promotion and provide technical support on product diversifications. The visiting EU delegation expressed satisfaction over the initiatives taken by APTMA for sustainability. However, they said implementation of the UN convention was still of source of concern for them, for which they are in touch with the government.