ISLAMABAD: The Minis­­­try of Commerce (MoC) on Wednesday signed an agreement with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Inter­nationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in respect of technical cooperation to Pakistan’s textiles and apparel industry, with the aim to improve labour conditions, compliance standards and resource efficiency.

Under the programme, the Federal Republic of Germany would provide GIZ up to €7,500,000 for a period of three years.

MoC Special Secretary Dr Sohail Rajpoot and GIZ Principal Adviser Romina Kochius signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries. The signing ceremony was attend­­­ed by Commerce Advi­­­­ser Abdul Razak Dawood.

An official statement said the agreement was signed in pursuance of the Memo­randum of Under­stand­ing (MoU) earlier signed between the Economic Affairs Division on behalf of Pakistan and Germany on Dec 23, 2020 in which the German government agreed to support two projects including the “Improvement of Labour, Social and Environmental Standards in Pakistan’s Textile Industry (TextILES)”.

The technical cooperation on this project aims to increase value-addition and competitiveness, and foster innovation by synergising the environmental, social, and economic dimen­­­sion of sustainability in the textiles and apparel industry.

Mr Dawood acknowledged the role of GIZ for the valuable support in respect of technical cooperation to Pakistan’s textiles and apparel industry in order to improve labour conditions, compliance standards and resource efficiency.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2021