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Zambian govt appoints committee for textile sector revival

14 May '14
2 min read

The Government of Zambia has appointed a committee of permanent secretaries, headed by Siakazongo Siakalenge, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry (MCTI), to revive the growth of the textile industry in the country, according to a Zambia Daily Mail report.
 
The recently constituted committee would also consider the possibility of reviving the Zambia-China Mulungushi Textiles in Kabwe, which falls under the Ministry of Defence, informed Mr. Siakalenge last week in Siavonga, a town in the Southern Province which is also Zambia's principal tourism centre.
 
Mr. Siakalenge said the Ministry of Defence would soon start sourcing 20 to 30 percent of its uniform requirements locally, which in turn is likely to create over 4,000 new jobs this year.
 
Speaking about quality and skills, he said that would not be a problem as people can be easily trained in three-month time and they can acquire goods skills in making designs on computer as well as cutting and stitching.
 
In the past, Zambia was home to some textile and garment manufacturing enterprises like Swap Spinning Mills in Ndola, Mukuba Textiles in Ndola, and the Kabwe-based Zambia China Mulungushi Textiles (ZCMT).
 
However, these industries are defunct today, and all that Zambia exports is cotton, mostly to the Far Eastern countries, which China being the biggest market.
 
Through the Commercial Industrialization Policy 2009-14 and the 2013 Strategic Paper on Industrialization and Job Creation, the Government of Zambia identified the textile and garment industry as one of the priority sectors that can drive economic growth in the country.
 

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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