MENATEX Regional: Textile and clothing programme II

Resumen

The second phase of GTEX focusses on the 4 MENA countries of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia as well as one Asian country.

It builds on the achievements of the first phase, consolidates them where required, but focusses on the main challenges that T&C manufacturers face to continue exporting to world markets, namely the twin transition of digitalization and environmental (and social) sustainability. To address these and the expected radical market changes leading to higher imports in Western markets of “green” quality products with lower volumes of fast fashion, the programme will be transformational in nature. 

In line with these requirements that are expected to have far reaching implications last seen during the quota phase out in 2005, the overall expected impact of the programme is to increase income along the value chain through a more productive, inclusive, and greener T&C sector. Following discussions with both donors, the programme will pursue 2 outcomes, namely:

• Increased competitiveness of inclusive T&C enterprises through green and sustainable trade
• Improved ecosystem able to direct the T&C sector towards systemic change addressing inclusiveness and circularity 

Without such responsible practices, manufacturers will likely not be able to export anymore to key markets such as the EU, US, or Japan. “Dumping” low quality fast fashion products to other markets would also not be an option.

At the MENA regional level, regional linkages and solutions towards the twin transition will be facilitated and regional collaboration and trade enabled.