Improving working conditions and enhancing environmentally friendly production in Pakistan's textile industry (TextILES)

Project description

Title: Improvement of Labour and Environmental Standards in Pakistan's Textile Industry (TextILES)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)​​​​​​​
Country: Pakistan
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Commerce, Government of Pakistan
Overall term: 2021 to 2023

Context

The textile and fashion industry is Pakistan's most important industry. It contributes approximately 8.5 per cent to the country's gross domestic product and 54 per cent of exports. Some 15 million people (around 25 per cent of the workforce) are employed in this sector. Productivity is low compared to other countries in the region and there has been little initiative for socially fair and environmentally friendly growth. Large quantities of water, chemicals and energy are consumed in production. For the largely informal workforce, working conditions are characterised by poor occupational safety, low wages, lack of co-determination and lack of dialogue. The economic potential of women is hardly utilised, while labour and environmental legislation is barely enforced. The private sector is virtually unaware of its responsibility for improving working conditions and the associated competitive potential. At the same time, demand from international buyers for textiles from fair and environmentally friendly production is increasing. Pakistan's textile and fashion industry needs major modernisation to address these issues.

Objective

The textile and fashion industry increasingly pursues environmental and labour standards. Thereby, it has become more competitive and resilient.

Approach

The project supports public and private actors in developing approaches to synergise the economic, environmental and social dimensions of the production in the textile and fashion industry. The following four fields of activity therefore comprise measures relating to these three dimensions.

Field 1: improving cooperation between government and private actors to promote competitiveness, socially fair and environmentally friendly production.

Field 2: improving the ability of state actors to enforce labour and environmental legislation.

Field 3: expanding the range of services to promote improved production processes by providing consultancy to develop and implement new services in the textile and fashion industry.

Field 4: promoting employment and employability, especially for returning migrants, by the systematic use of value adding, socially fair and environmentally friendly production practices.

Last update: August 2022