Archroma, a global leader in colour and specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Textile University (NTU) in Pakistan. The memorandum will pave the way for a five-year period of cooperation, according to the company.
The partnership will allow students and experts to explore innovations in textile research to help the textile industry align with the fast pace of global requirements and evolutions. The students of NTU will also be able to join internship placement programs at Archroma’s Center of Excellence in Karachi, Pakistan.
Both partners will jointly hold sessions to prepare students for the challenges of the textile industry through in-house training sessions, developmental projects, research in textile applications and process innovative methodologies by pioneering value additions.
Dr Tanveer Hussain, rector of NTU, says the collaboration will immensely benefit the university students: “The industrial liaison of students will create confidence and the training, internships and working sessions will benefit them in their career development.”
Consequently, the partnership is said to propel textile research through academic work.
The memorandum was officially signed at a ceremony recently held in Faisalabad, Pakistan, by Hussain and Mujtaba Rahim, chief executive officer (CEO) of Archroma Pakistan Limited.
Speaking at the event, Rahim said: “We, at Archroma, believe in continuous improvement and challenging the status quo to enhance sustainable growth, especially in our product lines.”
Hussain elaborates on the importance of the partnership: “This is going to have a far-reaching impact in textile research which will bear highly positive results for NTU and Archroma.”
This implementation of a research and development-based collaboration follows an earlier report by WTiN Intelligence: Digital Textiles, which states Pakistan is one of several countries becoming a high growth market within the textile industry, alongside Bangladesh and South Korea.
Rahim adds: “Our partnership will go a long way in adding value in the fast-growing textile segment, from education to R&D development.”
Next month, Archroma will present 10 of its latest solutions at Techtextil, which takes place on 14-17 May in Frankfurt. During the event, Archroma says it will showcase two new solutions that specifically serve the automotive and transportation market, including a light fast car system designed to keep fabric colours deep, vibrant and matched day after day, and a halogen-free flame-retardant coating system for synthetic leather upholstery.
