Business

Lack of skilled workforce hindering exports

Industry seeks govt support to identify areas in need of trained, skilled manpower

Our Correspondent November 28, 2021

There is strong empirical evidence that employment of female workers in industries that are reliant on cheaper labour and unskilled workers benefits producers as it lowers the costs of production. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE:

Pakistan’s garment industry has not taken the full advantage of its access to the European Union market because the sector is facing massive shortage of skilled manpower, said Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) North Zone Chairman Sheikh Luqman Amin.

In a statement on Saturday, he added that the government needed to collaborate with the industry to identify the areas where trained and skilled manpower was needed in a bid to enhance share of Pakistan in the global garment export segment.

“We are making adequate efforts to upgrade the industry on modern lines and enhance export volume in many fields,” he said. “There is a great scope of growth in the value-added garment industry in the export-oriented city of Sialkot which is now producing 40% of the world’s martial arts apparel.” He stressed that the expansion of Sialkot’s value-added garment sector can only be made possible through the removal of hurdles like lack of skilled labour, expansive electricity and irregular gas supply.

Amin saw large scope of additional growth after the continuation of GSP Plus status for another decade but lamented that there was no roadmap in place to produce professionals that could be absorbed by the industry. On behalf of the apparel industry, he appealed the government to make amendments in labour laws and revise the age limit of labourers working in the industrial sector.

He highlighted that the industry was facing problems due to a shortage of trained and skilled industrial workers. The official held the view that after revision in the law, youth would have the opportunity to work in a pleasant atmosphere in the export industry and the menace of bonded labour would be eliminated in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2021.

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