MULTAN    -   US Consul General Colleen Crenwelge celebrated the achievements of 75 young men and women who graduated from the U.S. Department of State-funded English Works! Program in Multan. “Education is a cornerstone for building a bright future for Pakistan,” Consul General Crenwelge said while speaking at the graduation ceremony of the students here the other day.

“The United States is proud to provide these talented youth with some of the tools they will need to ensure prosperity for themselves and the next generation.” English Works! focuses on improving Pakistani students’ job-related English language ability, as well as developing their public speaking and leadership skills.  The six-month intensive course in Multan was funded by a U.S. government grant to the Education for Skills Development Association at Bahauddin Zakariya University.

In Punjab, the United States has supported the participation of 5,675 students in English Works! and English Access programs.

SMEDA TO SET UP 1,000 INDUSTRIAL STITCHING UNITS

Former President of Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) Khawaja Muhammad Usman disclosed that the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has planned setting up 1,000 Industrial Stitching Units in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce & Textile under different phases of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

Delivering his presidential address at an introductory programme of SMEDA, he said that the SMEDA would also establish 150 Stitching Units during next three years in the first phase of the PSDP. “This project has been envisaged to promote value addition in the field of Textile garments based on Public-Private partnership by strengthening of existing SMEs and startups,” he said.

In this project 60 percent funding for the machines will be provided from PSDP through the same project by the Ministry of Commerce and Textile and 40 percent would be borne by the owner of the stitching units. SMEDA will design an operational manual for the project to monitor and supervise the implementation process, SMEDA will place staff and its officials engaged with the project throughout Pakistan, at provincial and regional offices. Salman Rafi Project Manager said that SMEDA is not only an SME policy-advisory body for the government of Pakistan but also facilitates other stakeholders in addressing their SME development agendas.He said that National Textile University (NTU)will impart training to successful candidates while SMEDA will play a role as a monitoring and executing agency and Ministry of Commerce & Textile is a sponsor of this project. Applicants must be Matriculate having three years experience in the field of textile.