PRGMEA Chairman Mubashar Butt inaugurates textile fashion exhibition
Lahore
Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA) Central Chairman Mubashar Naseer Butt has said that the textile industry-academia alliance is utmost important for sustainable economic growth, besides keeping the local industry competitive in the international market by establishing missing links to identify weaknesses and strengths.
He was addressing the opening ceremony of a textile and fashion event organized by IGATEX and FAKT here at Lahore Expo Centre. The event was aimed at showcasing sustainable fashion projects from leading universities from across Pakistan, including University of the Punjab, Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design, Beaconhouse National University, Superior University, UMT, GCU Faisalabad, National Textile University (NTU), GIFT University and the University of Sialkot. The central chairman was accompanied by PRGMEA north zone chairman Waseem Khan and FAKT CEO Saleem Khan Tanoli. PRGMEA senior members and other prominent figures of the fashion industry also attended this event. The fashion ceremony was about sustainability, showcasing student’s research work from different universities, acting as a platform for the dialogue about carbon footprint and its mitigation within industry and outside.
Mubashar Butt said that this event would open new avenues for the domestic garment industry to collaborate with the international buyers and leading global brands. He recalled that the PRGMEA had organized Global Fashion Award during 35th World Fashion Convention in Lahore in collaboration with the International Apparel Federation in Nov 2019. He said that the PRGMEA Global Fashion Award 2019 was also participated by the young fashion designers from across the country, attracting the attention of design oriented companies, professionals and interest groups. He said that the IAF-PRGMEA Convention and Global Fashion Award had gathered apparel industry from across the world and was a unique opportunity for Pakistani apparel industry to learn new techniques.
Mubashar Butt said that there is a need to create a strong interface between education institutions, widely recognized as essential contributors to economic development, and the industry that requires the skills and knowledge to increase productivity. He said that university-industry liaison is a vital instrument of growth that has direct and far reaching implications for the national economy.
Following the opening of the sustainable fashion pavilion, there was a panel discussion about vision Lahore net zero by 2050.
PRGMEA NZ Chairman Waseem Akhtar Khan told the audience about how he has reduced the emissions of 1.44kg/per pair of jeans to 1.16kg/per pair of jeans and they have the target to reduce it further it to 0.8kg/per pair of jeans.
Assad Bajwa, Managing Director South Asian Sourcing Ltd, explained how he has been successful in growing fair trade organic cotton in Pakistan. Ambreen Waheed, who is the founder of Responsible Business Initiative, talked about actionable directives to mitigate the harmful emissions. Syeda Faiza Jameel, Executive Director of Net Zero Pakistan spoke about collaboration and emission audits among the industry. The event was moderated by Dr Ayyaz Uddin, convener of Decarbonisation Committee at PRGMEA.
