IAF’s Pakistani member PRGMEA (Pakistan readymade garment manufacturers and exporters association) and IAF inaugurated the first ever IAF regional office this week.

This regional office, which will form an active link between PRGMEA’s member companies and IAF’s global network and knowledge, is housed within the new PRGMEA house in Sialkot, which was also inaugurated on 27 September. It will be developing services to Pakistani apparel companies in support of their export, their capacity building and their compliance.

The inauguration event was attended by the Pakistani State Minister for Textiles and Commerce Haji Akram Ansari, by the Dutch Ambassador to Pakistan Ardi Stoios-Braken and by chief guest IAF President Han Bekke, and drew a large crowd of industrialists and dignitaries from all over Pakistan.

The President of PRGMEA, Ijaz Khokhar, also sits on the Board of Directors of the IAF and has been the driving force leading to PRGMEA house and the IAF regional office within it, the association reports. The IAF will run the regional office as a pilot which could lead to similar regional offices in other countries.

After almost forty years the IAF has become a leading federation for apparel manufacturers, their associations, and the supporting industry. IAF’s membership now include apparel associations from more than 40 countries representing over 150,000 companies who provide products and services to the apparel industry – a membership that represents over 20 million employees.The associate members of IAF are prominent companies or institutes in technology, business services, retailing, logistics, culture and education.

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