Improvement of labour-, social- and environment standards in the Pakistani textile industry, Pakistan

Pakistan’s textile and fashion sector, concentrated mainly in Punjab, is the country’s most significant sector, contributing 8.5% to the GDP and constituting 54% of exports. Despite its significance, the industry is lagging behind regional counterparts when it comes to productivity rate while also facing substantial environmental and social problems. Meanwhile, the rising demand from global buyers for textiles produced sustainably is putting pressure on Pakistan and imposing demands of a substantial modernisation of the country’s textile and fashion industry. Therefore, The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) aims to promote sustainability in Pakistan’s textile and fashion sector by improving productivity, competitiveness, and economic resilience through the programme Improvement of labour-, social- and environment standards in the Pakistani textile Industry. PEMconsult has conducted an evaluation of the improvements of the labour, -, social-, and environmental standards recommending both public and private sector entities to embrace the standards within the industry. The evaluation processes included fieldwork in Pakistan.