The US Apparel Group, the country’s leading denim and apparel exporter, plans a large-scale footwear manufacturing venture in Lahore, as the country’s textile sector is aggressively pursuing diversified expansion.
Sources said the US Group’s footwear manufacturing plant would primarily cater to the procurement demands of the world’s leading brands. The US Group creates denim and jeans for clothing brand leaders who require reliable quality and delivery. The company has already started recruitment process for the upcoming venture.
“The project is at a very early stage, and we haven’t made the formal announcement yet,” US Apparel CEO Asif Malik said. “Things will get in share in a couple of months and we will share all the details.”
“Another triumph that we have achieved with sheer dedication and passionate teamwork is diversifying our portfolio and venturing into high in-demand creative business lines.”
Over the last 10 years, the increasing popularity of textile footwear has been the most important trend in the global footwear trade. This category now represents a quarter of the footwear trade, up from 14.6 per cent (value) in 2010.
Recently, the US Apparel launched a new business vertical in the logistics industry by the name of Leeds Logistics Private Limited, with a budget of $5 million for its Phase 1 fleet of 40 modern vehicles.
The fleet count is expected to reach 150 trucks in two to three years subject to approval and execution of Phase 2 and 3 with the investment of $10.5 million.
Since long, the textile entrepreneurs have ventured into such diversified businesses such as cement, housing, hospital, home appliances, power generation and even automobiles, etc. Pakistan’s leading business group, Tabba Group, Nishat Group, Gul Ahmed, Pakistan Denim and several others have grown bigger and stronger over time, as they chose not to keep all their eggs in one basket.
Scores of textile companies have diversified their businesses into other sectors, and some of them have achieved enviable success.
According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), value chains that support the textile and apparel industries are rapidly evolving. “They are integrating new technologies, embracing workplace innovations, adopting sustainable efficiencies, and inventing products and processes to meet the changing demands of the global consumers and markets.”
