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Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Clothing Manufacturers’ Association targets to increase employment levels in the industry to 8,000 this year from about 7,000 in 2014, union chairperson, Jeremy Youmans has said.

He said their job creation target was part of efforts to resuscitate companies in the clothing industry.

“We’re targeting at increasing employment levels to 8,000 this year from 7,000 in 2014. We’re looking forward to seeing companies in the sector being revived,” he said.

Archer Clothing, one of the oldest firms in Bulawayo is being revived through a take-over deal by a Harare-based Paramount Garments, whose managing director is Youmans.

The company, last month recruited 160 workers in addition to 200 it employed last September.

“We’re targeting at increasing our workforce at Archer to 800 by the end of the year from 500 at the moment,” he said.

At its peak, the sector employed 35,000 workers but due to a combination of competition from cheap imports, high operating costs and antiquated machinery operational capacity has dropped and employment too.

As part of efforts to revive the sector, players in the industry last August cut salaries for new employees who were earning $166,57 per month at the time by 20 percent and parties agreed to a salary increment freeze until July this year.

Youmans commended efforts that the government was doing in trying to address the challenges of cheap imports into the country.

He said that would go a long way in stimulating productivity in the clothing sector and improve the companies’ capacity.

The government has engaged a French-based quality inspection company, Bureau Veritas in an effort to curb the influx of cheap imports.

Under the agreement, Veritas will inspect each batch of goods entering Zimbabwe.

Products liable to pre-shipment inspection include electrical products, clothing, timber, building products, food and agriculture as well as health products.

Bureau Veritas is presently operating in over 140 countries worldwide.