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ers located in Lahore, Karachi, Sialkot, Faisalabad and Multan. In unison they expressed that the existing infrastructure of textile & garments institutes in the country is not able to fulfill the requirement for skilled human resources to meet the imMediate demand.

The need assessment showed that an intervention for fast-track capacity building of the garment industry to meet the challenges posed by the ever-changing demand of international markets was justified. To cope with this dire need, it was proposed to hire foreign experts on long term basis to upgrade the knowledge and skills of the workers employed in the garment industry.

Industry Scenario:

As quoted by Chairman of All Pakistan Textile Mill Association, Textiles are the most important industry in Pakistan. It accounts for approximately 40 percent of manufacturing employment, over 60 percent of total exports, and over 30 percent of value-added production. Pakistan's textile industry, based on locally grown cotton, produces cotton yarn, cotton cloth, and made-up textiles and apparel.

Industry Facts and Figures

As data cited at web published edition of aptma, Pakistan had a total of 503 spinning mills with an installed capacity of 10,437,000 spindles and 155,104 rotors. The weaving industry has 53 integrated units (composite units with spinning and weaving in one unit) with an installed capacity of 14,130 looms; 512 shuttle less weaving units with an installed capacity of 13,340 1ooms; and approximately 30,000 units in the power loom (shuttle loom) sector, with an estimated 225,253 looms. In PFY-97 it additionally had 670 finishing units with a production capacity of 3,460 million sq. meters of fabric per annum, 700 knitwear units with 15,000 knitting machines, and 4,000 garment units with 160,000 industrial and 450,000 domestic sewing machines. Exports of all textiles in PFY-97 totaled a value of USD 5.4 billion. The major buyer of textile clothing and accessories was the United States, which purchased USD 309.2 million of goods. (Michelle, Pakistan Profile, January/February 2007)

Problems in industry

Pakistan's excessive economic reliance on the textile industry now necessitates the upgrade of its low value-added textile products to higher value-added products and the development of additional export markets. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) has reportedly constituted a textile commission to examine the problems of the textile industry and guide its future planning in the effort to turn this vital sector of the country economy into a healthy and internationally competitive industry. The upgrade to value-added production will require more sophisticated machinery. Trade sources believe that given favorable rupee/dollar parity, the textile industry may be expected to grow by as much as 10 to 15 percent annually over the next 2-3 years.

Technology being implied

In PFY-98 Pakistan offered an import market of USD 213 million for the sale of textile machinery, equipment and parts. Statistics for domestic production are not available, but trade sources report that manufacture, which is geared to demand, is at the present time negligible. The market has declined drastically over the last six years. In PFY-93, Pakistan imported USD 789.2 million worth of textile machinery. Imports fell in subsequent years to USD 352.7 million in PFY-94, USD 294.9 i