The Garment Program works with the industry to help it thrive in the face of increasing global competition. This involves improving productivity through building industry-wide partnerships, developing management skills and enhancing corporate social responsibility. The Facility targets the garment industry because it is the top export industry in Cambodia and ranks second in Vietnam. It is also of enormous importance to the poorer rural women who work in the industry and support extended families. The program develops the capacity of middle managers and supervisors because they are an important link between management and labor, and are in a position to effect change in their factories and the industry as a whole. In Vietnam, the program’s partner is the International Garment Training Center, which IFC-MPDF helped establish and continues to support through developing curriculum and trainers. In Cambodia, the program collaborated with the multinational clothing retailer Gap Inc. to train 650 factory supervisors in human relations skills. Now the program is partnering with the International Labor Organization to turn their labor monitoring project into a sustainable enterprise, facilitate a buyers’ forum and develop an industry-wide training strategy.
