Pak Apparel Sector Can Move Up Value Chain With CPEC Benefit

Apparel, Footwear, Fashion

Pak Apparel Sector Can Move Up Value Chain With CPEC Benefit

Industrialisation phase of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has opened new avenues of value-addition in textile garment sector and instead of sticking to the export of raw or semi-finished products, Pakistan should work under a comprehensive and planned strategy to exploit One Belt One Road to cater to the garment needs of the countries from Gulf up to Europe.

This was stated by Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) former Vice President Engineer Ahmad Hassan. He was participating in a panel discussion jointly organised by the National Textile University (NTU) and R&D Section of FCCI in connection with the 3rd All Pakistan DICE Textile Innovation event. Ahmad Hassan said that historic investment of US$ 51 billion has laid down a strong foundation for the accelerated development and growth of this region. He said, "CPEC is an opportunity as well as a challenge and we must prepare ourselves to harvest the benefits from this project which is going to be a reality."

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor will not only benefit Pakistan and China but regional countries could also get its due dividends, he added. Dr. Tanveer Hussain Rector NTU said that China is making huge investment of US$ 2.7 billion in its textile garment sector. The objective of this initiative is to produce 500 million garments per annum by 2020, he said and added that it will also provide Pakistan an opportunity to avail from Chinese benefits and get its due share from the garment sector. He supported an idea to establish a full-fledged Chinese department in NTU to keep apace with well-advanced Chinese industries.

Professor Wang of Beijing University said that 30 years ago China was also facing Pakistan-like situation with rampant energy shortage and high cost of doing business. At that time, Japanese and Korean investors established their units in China, and Chinese entrepreneurs fully benefited from their experiences and later upgraded their industry to compete with the rest of the world.