ISLAMABAD, Nov 19 (INP): The EU funded Pakistan Leather Competitiveness Improvement Program (PLCIP) arranged a two day Training Workshop on Footwear for the footwear export sector of Pakistan. The training was conducted by Mr. Michal pa?ek, a leather footwear expert from International Shoe Competitiveness Centre (ISC) Germany.
The two day workshop was widely attended by leading Pakistani exporters including senior management from companies such as Servis, Firhaj, Starlet, Shafi Lifestyle, Deluxe, Standard Footwear and EPCOT. The workshop was also attended by representatives from Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design, Government Institute of Leather Technology Gujranwala, Charsadda Footwear Institute and Leather Product Development Institute Sialkot.
Earlier, PLCIP had undertaken a detailed in factory visits to the leading footwear exporters, and prepared a Competitive Need Assessment for the Pakistani footwear sector. This training workshop was the first step to engage with the shortlisted footwear exporters under PLCIP.
The major topics of the training were decision making in shoe making, shoe material & components, plastic material in shoe making, gluing and productivity improvement. Furthermore, the workshop was supported with practical samples and modern shoe making tools which have been imported and prepared specifically for the training. The training demonstrated comparisons between a good quality shoe and a bad quality shoe, hereby leading to a better understanding amongst the audience.
Apart from the final shoe, various shoe components were shown which included lasts, insoles, counter, toe puff, upper and lasted upper without sole while highlighting the best techniques used in preparing these samples. Recommendations were made on how to improve the quality, material consumption and productivity in the Pakistani footwear sector. The audience consisted of CEOs/Directors, senior management and technical personnel from the attending companies.
Mr. Usman Malik, Project Director PLCIP, informed the audience that purpose of the workshop is to provide the audience with the background knowledge necessary to improve competitiveness of Footwear sector of Pakistan. He further added that the next step of the program will be to work with the individual firms on specific customized interventions identified by under the Competitiveness Need Assessment conducted earlier, which will help in bridging the gap and produce quality products for exports.
INP
