According to newspaper reports, the country’s textile and clothing exports has fallen by 1.30 percent to $1.064 billion in January this year despite the prime minister’s initiatives to boost exports. Pakistan is struggling to regain its status as one of the leading textile exporters in the world but it seems it has lost the potentials to compete with other economies in the region. World statistics show that China earns $110 billion a year and is the largest exporter of textile products in the world and Bangladesh follows it as the second largest exporter of garments. The textile sector involves various stakeholders across the country and its value chain involves ginners, weavers, spinners, bed sheet manufacturers as well as garment manufacturers. The exports are nose-diving despite achieving preferential status from the European Union and a research is yet to be launched to find causes of a steady decline. The government presented a textile policy last year under which a 4 percent rebate on the exports of readymade garments was announced which was 10 percent higher than the preceding year. However, the government has given no advice on the export of raw material and yarn.
Under the policy, at least Rs 2.5 billion paid to exporters during the last fiscal year. Since January this year, the government not only increased the rebate to 7 percent for readymade garments, but also allowed cash support of four percent for yarn and grey cloth exports under the export package of Rs180 billion announced by the prime minister. The available data shows that the exports of ready made garments has fallen by 3.6 percent, knitwear by 3.44percent, cotton cloth by 3.1 percent and towels by 1.36 percent in January. However, the export of bed wear has increased by 2.17 percent, cotton yarn by 4.37 a year-on-year basis. The export of raw cotton has decline by 49.77 percent year-on-year and synthetic textile exports by 14.11 percent. The situation is fast heading toward a breaking point if the government failed to take urgent measures. A matter of concern is that only export of value-added goods is decreasing. Officials argues that a low demand of textile products in Europe is the main cause of falling exports, but the point to ponder is that how the other nations like China, Bangladesh and Vietnam have boosted their volumes of exports in the current circumstances.
According to exports, the government announced a Strategic Trade Policy Framework in April 2016, but it still awaits implementation. Unless the policymakers work on war footings, the export sector will not be able to rid itself of the declining trend.
