Pakistan’s textile and clothing sector representatives have expressed conflicting views over an International Finance Corporation (IFC) initiative aimed at supporting textile industry efforts to reduce energy consumption with a view to improving sustainability.
The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) termed the IFC move a very positive step for Pakistan’s ailing textile sector while the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) thought otherwise, claiming the plan would not work because it doesn’t provide remedies for the real issues of the textile sector.
The IFC, part of the World Bank, last month signed an agreement with the US-based clothing chain – GAP Inc to help Pakistan’s textile industry, especially the clothing sector, to resolve energy-related and environmental issues.
Saima Zuberi, project manager, IFC Pakistan says: “Initially, we have nominated GAP Inc to undertake this exercise although we could directly approach the suppliers like PRGMEA and other stakeholders like APTMA. However, she declined to give details about the bulk of investment involved in the process.
“What I can say right now is that we would be providing advisory services to the textile sector in Pakistan,” she says, adding that under the agreement, GAP will hold seminars and training workshops for the industry stakeholders letting them know how to reduce energy consumption and achieve sustainability.
PRGMEA secretary Hina Asif says that while she was aware of the IFC-GAP agreement, she had yet to hear full details. APTMA secretary general Anis ul Haq, however, welcomed the development, saying it would definitely help Pakistan’s industry to achieve sustainability and tackle environmental issues.
“The IFC has already done this in Bangladesh and now we are in negotiations with it. So far, all that is at an initial stage, but I can say for sure it’s a good move and will help us in achieving sustainability.”
Muhammad Ijaz Khokhar, coordinator for PRGMEA, however, comments that work on energy saving for the industry was already ongoing with the help of GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) – a German donor agency. So, there is nothing new in what the IFC plans to do in Pakistan, he says, terming it a ‘futile exercise serving hardly any purpose.’
“Our real and burning issue is how to enhance productivity of the industry and, for that purpose, we need upgraded technology for the small and medium entrepreneurs, which account for 95% of our total garment industry,” adds Khokhar.
He says Pakistan garment sector’s productivity is 30-32% less than that of Bangladesh which could only be enhanced by investing in technology and workforce training.
Currently, Pakistan’s textile and clothing industry delivers 57% of the country’s total exports but since 2012 they have been almost stagnant with just a 3.7% increase to US$13.530bn last year from US$13.047bn in overall textile and clothing sector exports while raw cotton, cotton yarn and cotton cloth exports have shown negative growth of between 18% and 62%, according to APTMA statistics.
Another issue the textile and garment sectors are faced with is marketing, since Pakistan is far behind Bangladesh and other competitors such as India and China, Khokhar points out. “We need more investment and a well-conceived and well-planned marketing strategy to showcase our products globally. So, I would suggest IFC first invests in Pakistan to help enhance productivity and improve marketing. Once we achieve this goal then we can move towards framing policies for sustainability of our productivity.”
