On December 10, eleven faculty members from the Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design (PIFD) who participated in a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) capacity development training program in 2014 met at the Serena Hotel to discuss follow-up actions from their visits to the United States, United kingdom and France.

 

USAID Mission Director, Gregory Gottlieb and Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan, Federal Minister for Commerce, Government of Pakistan attended the debriefing event. Mr. Gottlieb, while speaking to the trainees said, "I am confident that these trained teachers will go back to their classrooms and continue being even better teachers. Fashion design training is important, because it adds value to the textile and gems and jewelry sector in Pakistan.  This is what essentially makes local products export worthy and will go a long way in making Pakistani fashion and auxiliary industries thrive."

 

The trained faculty members discussed how they would apply the knowledge of many cutting-edge trends and techniques in footwear, jewelry design and clothing and textiles. The trained teachers also shared with the audience their plans to transfer their new knowledge and skills to their students at PIFD. The students through this knowledge of international standards and best practices will augment their chances of finding competitive positions in the industry and sharpen their entrepreneurial skills.

 

The training supported by USAID, is part of a comprehensive capacity building initiative aimed at enhancing Pakistan's productivity and export competitiveness in economic sectors with high export potential. This classroom training will also help young graduates from PIFD access better incomes and new techniques at par with international standards. Fifty percent of the trained faculty is women.

 

The USAID training for Pakistan Project is a USD 33.9 million project that provides capacity development and training to Pakistanis in various sectors, including the economic growth and agriculture sector in order to enhance the capacity of future Pakistani leaders and professionals and develop the capacity of local partners. The project also invests in training in other areas, such as education, health, energy and resilience and governance. The project aims to train over 6,000 Pakistanis in these areas by May 2017.

 

For more details regarding USAID's impact on Pakistan's economic growth: http://www.usaid.gov/pakistan/economic-growth-agriculture