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cotton yarns and cotton cloth, as well as having sustainable growth of the textile industry. Some of the
become a key exporter of denim, home textiles and emerging global trends are summarised below. It is
garments. The textile industry is now the backbone of pertinent to mention that usually two or more of these
Pakistan’s economy, contributing 8.5% to the trends are interconnected.
country’s GDP and 60% to export receipts, providing
employment for 3.5 million people. Sustainability
Textiles are heavily intertwined with environmental,
Rationale for change social and governance issues. In the past, efforts of
Despite these promising statistics, Pakistan’s producers and retailers have primarily focused on
competitive advantage diminishes due to improving the social aspects of textiles e.g.
predominantly export of low-end textiles products. establishing fair working conditions, setting social
Low-cost yet highly skilled labour of Pakistan has standards, establishing minimum wages, ensuring
always remained a reason of interest of global occupational safety, imposing a ban on child and
businesses in the textile supply chain but at the same forced labour, etc. Over the years, however, there has
time low productivity is a hurdle to unleash the full been growing concern about the environmental
potential. However, the share of man-made fibres has impacts of textiles.
significantly grown in the global fibre mix and in all • By improving their environmental and social
the fibres produced worldwide, cotton accounts for performances, brands can improve their
about one fourth. However, Pakistan’s textile industry reputation;
is dominantly reliant on cotton only. Pakistan’s textile • Linking business to social and environmental
industry has not lived up to its full potential amid the projects enables companies to build a strong
domestic and global challenges - at micro and macro connection with consumers by involving them in
scale. The energy shortage and fluctuations in cotton sustainability initiatives;
crop has been two major issues in the resent years. • Technological innovation in production processes,
The lack of initiatives by the governments and along the supply chain which contribute to improve
discontinuity of policies is not helpful as well. The the environmental footprint of processes and which
crisis has been building up over years and this critical may save costs, enabling the use of more recycled
situation has led to recession of the local industry. materials i.e. end of life polyester can be recycled
The strategic geographic location of Pakistan and the into new clothes;
recent progress in CPEC (China Pakistan economic • There are already well established environmental
Corridor) can attract the investors’ interest in labels that producers can apply for to prove their
Pakistan, from around the globe. Amid all the superior environmental performances (such as the
potential, the textile industry is facing challenges and EU Ecolabel, Blue Angel, Nordic Swan, GOTS).
a clear vision is the indispensable. Keeping in view
the current state of the industry and the emerging Re-shoring
global trends, it is pivotal to explore new ideas and Cost has played a critical role in outsourcing the
avenues to revive the local textile industry – a wish industry to the far East. In recent years, due to
to progress without the quest of new ideas automation and as costs of labour in outsourced
would lead us nowhere. The visionary regions have increased, the textile industry in
leadership of the global “textile” village need developed countries is showing signs of recovering
to present, articulate, nurture and elaborate from a decade long exodus. One recent example is
new ideas as the fight of progress without opening of a cotton spinning mills in UK, after the last
feathers of ideas is not easy. one closed in 1980s. Similarly, Burberry announced

Global Trends - to aspire and inspire plans to invest over £50 million to expand its Cotton is a fibre of consumer preference. Pakistan’s of cotton fibre.
production in the North of England. Hence, the global
TEXtalks has taken this initiative to bring together all
At the inception of Pakistan in 1947, the textile million spindles and more than 200,000 open-end the key stakeholders to sit, to discuss and competitiveness and attractiveness of global textile industry is dominantly reliant on cotton and is a
industry was operational with about 177,000 spindles rotors. The weaving sector comprises of 36,700 disseminate the latest trends & innovations and to businesses is important as reshoring is a looming (in key player in the global cotton industry. World fibre Fast fashion
in six spinning mills and a cottage industry of some air-jet/shuttle-less looms and 375,000 power looms propose solutions for sustainable growth of the Textile the long term) threat, especially when it is linked to demand rose for the eighth year in succession in Fast Fashion accelerates the production process to
5,000 weaving looms. The sector could only meet and 15,000 knitting machines. The downstream industry. The “Inspiring Change” conference aims to the concept of circular economy and mass 2016 to a record high. The use of sustainable get new catwalk trends into stores or online as
around 8% of domestic demand of a population of 76 sectors of dyeing, printing, finishing and garment provide a platform to the textile experts to share and customisation. Mass customisation services allow sources and means for fibre production, recycling of quickly as possible. It also reflects the growing
million people. Since then, the textile industry in making have expanded to 4.9 billion square metre align their thoughts and ideas to subsequently customers to participate in the design of their products, fibres and the demand on performance fibres are the consumer desire for speed and value within retail.
Pakistan has witnessed phenomenal growth and has fabric processing capacity, around 5,000 garment suggest next steps to enhance the global which are then built to order in large-scale factories. key trends in the sector. The need for fibre mix Brands such as H&M and Zara were said to be
undergone numerous changes. At present, the textile factories. competitiveness and attract endeavours in diversification is important as the world cannot among the very first fast fashion retailers. When the
industry in Pakistan is a heavily technology-driven As a major producer of cotton Pakistan has now value-added sector to ultimately pave the way for Fibre mix produce enough cotton to meet consumer needs. latter opened its first US store in 1990 (having first
process with 471 spinning plants equipped with 13.4 become one of the world’s leading exporters of Cotton is the key part of Pakistan’s agro economy. However, Pakistan needs to exploit the full potential launched in Spain in the 1970s) it announced that it

January/February 2018 January/February 2018

would only take 15 days for a garment to go from manufacturing clearly hints towards growing global
concept to completion. trends. On-demand manufacturing represents an
evolution in procurement and supply chain
The fast fashion industry has come under fire in management thought, bringing together the best of
recent years for its impact on the environment, as previous concepts, such as just-in-time
well as suggestions that the demand for cheap manufacturing, which focuses on streamlining
clothing is driving poor working and labour operations, and lean manufacturing principles, which
conditions. Interestingly, research shows that 19% of seeks to drive waste from processes.
the top fast fashion related searches are linked to the
environment, ethics and sustainability. In order to An enabling platform
counteract this, many brands are now displaying “Inspiring Change” is the first of a series of
increased levels of transparency, with some also conferences to provide an enabling environment to
introducing initiatives relating to ethical and the local textile industry. It is clear that there is a need
environmental issues. to bring together all stakeholders to identify,
recognise and propose solutions to the problems
Industry 4.0 faced and exploit the untapped potential of the local
Industry 4.0 is the buzzword that accompanies the textile industry. The first conference aims to frame the
emergence of smart factories in the 4th industrial problems, present solutions and provide a common
revolution, the digital era. Smart factories have a high ground for stakeholders to work together for a
level of both automation and digitization. Machines common cause – to uplift the sustainable growth of
are self-optimizing, self-configuring and slow Artificial local textile industry in line with the global trends.
Intelligence as well as machine learning can be The event is planned to be more than an intellectual
unleashed upon the data these machines generate. activity, the aim is to channelise the information to
An IoT layer is added to all particles of a factory so decision-makers and influencers to inform the future
that all machines can talk to each other and other policies and direction. Following the conference,
business units, like purchasing, transport, Sales and TEXtalks in its coming issues will review and present
even HR. This will generate a superior level of the changes and developments to the stakeholders.
cost-efficiency and the ability to match supply and Hence it will provide an enabling platform to not only
demand seamlessly. This linked with e-commerce recognise solutions but will also play a role to monitor
activities can completely change the way textile the progress. This continuous drive will feed into the
industry currently operates. future events under the umbrella of “Inspiring
The recent patent by Amazon for on-demand apparel Change”.