Zambian govt appoints special committee to save textile industry

Government has appointed a committee of permanent secretaries to revive the growth of the textile industry in Zambian which is dwindling; it once had 250 local textile factories but today only 20 remain, as their goods are priced out of the market by cheaper clothes and textiles imported from China.

Many workers lost their jobs when production costs soared and the company couldn’t compete with imports from Asia that were beginning to flood the market. With the revival of textile industry, it will see over 4,000 jobs created this year.

Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry permanent secretary Siakazongo Siakalenge said that the committee was put in place recently to look at the textile industry.

The committee would be also working on the possibility of reviving the operation of Zambia-China Mulungushi Textiles in Kabwe, which falls under the Ministry of Defence.

The Ministry of Defence will soon start procuring 20 to 30 percent of uniform requirement locally, which is expected to generate close to 4,100 jobs within this year.

As they already have state-of-the-art equipment installed, they will be no need of doing any reinvestment. As of now it just mere business skill which is lacking.

However, the issue of quality and skills can be resolved by providing training within a period of three months and develop skill workers who will be in a position to operate computer-generated designs, including cutting machines required by the textile industry.