FAISALABAD: Interloop, a Pakistani textile firm that manufactures socks for Nike, Adidas and other global apparel brands, is building a hosiery manufacturing hub in Egypt to boost exports to the West and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets, its chairman said.
Interloop has the capacity to produce about one billion socks annually through its manufacturing plants in Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It supplies socks and leggings to brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Target, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Zara and M&S, according to Interloop Chairman Musadaq Zulqarnain.
The textile firm is investing $35 million in its textile manufacturing facility at Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone, which is expected to be completed in next 18 months. The facility will initially target $40 million in exports to its retail customers in the US, Europe, Africa and Gulf markets within three years of its operationalization.
“Egypt has a duty-free agreement with USA. And also, you can supply to EU and UK duty-free from Egypt,” Zulqarnain told Arab News in an interview in Faisalabad, when asked why his firm chose to establish the facility in Egypt.
The plant will use Pakistani yarn.
