Malaysian textile firm to create 8,000 jobs in new venture

Malaysian textile giant Ramatex Berhad was building a US $100 million manufacturing plant in Namibia that was expected to create 8,000 jobs, news reports said on Thursday.

Reports said the factory, which was expected to begin operating in January, would produce high-end garments and T-shirts for export to European and US markets. The venture was also expected to result in 15,000 jobs in indirect industries involved in the textile trade, such as production of buttons, cotton, chemicals and packaging. Jakova Katuamba, commercial counsellor with the Namibian High Commission in Malaysia, was quoted as saying that all the jobs were expected to be created over the next five years.

Namibian cotton producers were also expected to increase production, as the Ramatex venture would demand 20,000 mt of cotton a year, while the country’s existing annual production was only 4,000 mt, according to one report.