The fashion industry in Ghana is getting support from the Ethical Fashion Initiative project of the International Trade Centre (ITC), and a Product Development Centre (PDC) has been inaugurated in Accra, reports Ghana News Agency.
The PDC is as an integral part of an on-going Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) and Swiss Government supported initiative, to create a highly competitive ethical fashion industry in Ghana.
The PDC, inaugurated at MOTI's Clothing Technology and Training Centre in Accra, will provide emerging fashion brands and talented fashion design trainees with a fully-equipped and professionally managed centre for developing their creations.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Dawarnoda Baeka, Chief Director of MOTI, said the Ministry has been trying for over a decade to improve the performance of the textile and apparel sector, but it has not met with encouraging results. He urged the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to not to abandon the 'Ethical Fashion Ghana Project' at this stage, and explore possibilities of further expanding the good work across the country.
The Ethical Fashion Ghana Project is a MOTI-Swiss Government joint project which is being implemented by the ITC. It aims at establishing a sustainable export market, based on a sustainable supply chain for ethical fashion products supplied by micro-enterprises.
Simone Cipriani, Chief of Ethical Fashion Initiative, Poor Communities and Trade Programme, International Trade Centre, Geneva, said the project aims to work with local African designers, as they believer that creativity lies in Africa as well.
He explained that the project would provide opportunity for Ghanaian designers to produce quality products as per the requirements of the international market. He informed that products of five Ghanaian designers were successfully showcased in Milano.