Posted on: 30 Sep 2013

Fast paced technological ad­vances have made it imperative to de­velop individual and organizational ca­pacities through continuous learning .and training for survival, efficiency and growth in the national and international arena. These were the comments by Profes­sor Dr. Zakria Hussain, chairperson, vice-chancellor of the Government College University (GCU), Faisalabad and Na­tional project director, Promoting Em­ployment and Productivity in Garment Industry (PEPGI) project, at the inaugu­ral ceremony of training of trainers on "Apparel manufacturing and management". The event was organized by PEPGI project, at Pakistan Readymade Gar­ments Technical Training Institute (PRGTTT), Lahore. "Unfortunately, we have not been able to fully exploit the prospects of remarkable potential growth in the gar­ment industry, where value addition to cotton can perform wonders," he said. "PEPGI is a beacon light for improv­ing productivity in the garment industry the backbone of Pakistan's industrial sector which has shown resilience de­spite overwhelming challenges." "We are thankful to the United Na­tions Development Program (UNDP) for supporting sustainable initiatives such as PEPGI project, which has helped improve Uves. The GCU, Faisal­abad is committed to provide the best services and delivery in the garment sector through effective implementa­tion of PEPGI project," Hussain said. Hassan Nasir Jami, regional director of the National Vocational and Techni­cal Training Commission (NAVTTC), Punjab, was the chief guest on the occa­sion. Sudhat Geegana, consultant Technopak, delivered presentation on the overview of garment industry in Pakistan and elaborated the training schedule and module. "The most attractive feature of the PEPGI project is where the foreign con­sultants conduct a performance gap analysis and offer consulting guidelines to bridge the gaps identified at gap anal­ysis stage," he said. Shujaat Mirza, director of Advance Fashion Limited, elaborating experi­ences from the garment industry, said: "Now it is time to organise this business on more professional lines and employ­ing latest techniques in garment sewing and laundry business." "In this context, training and devel­opment of human resource is one of the most critical areas of garment business. I hope PPEPGI would continue and ex­pand this program for the benefit of the garment industry. I would appeal to colleagues in the industry to utilize this excellent opportunity to upgrade their businesses." Habib Abbasi, general manager operations, Azgard-9, highlighted the im­portance of training, and said: "We shall focus on adding value to our human re­source in the garment industry, as it is a prerequisite for success. We strongly believe in training, as it empowers us to achieve targets by acquiring skills. These 45 days of training can change your life. You can subsequently change Uves of 45,000 people." Dilating upon the PEPGI back­ground, the National Project Manager, PEPGI Project, Punjab, Shoeb Iqbal Syed, said that the project, an initiative of the UNDP, aims at working with the garment industry of Pakistan to achieve two development results: creating em­ployment opportunities for youth and women, besides enhancing labor pro­ductivity on floor efficiency in the gar­ment industry; and developing capaci­ties of local consultancy / training service providers to train workers and middle management in the garment value chain.