Govt eyes $21 billion textile export by end of this fiscal year
The federal cabinet has approved revised Textile and Apparel Policy 2020-25 with the aim to boost the capacity of textile industry and ensure sustainable growth in textile exports, Adviser on Commerce Razak Dawood told while addressing a news conference on Wednesday.
The new policy aims to offer internationally competitive electricity and gas rates, said Dawood.
“In the textile policy, we are assuring the business people that we will give them international competitive prices. Furthermore, we will maintain tariff rationalization,” said the advisor, adding that the economy of Pakistan is moving in the right direction.
“One of the main objectives of the textile policy is to first, give our textile industry internationally competitive electricity and gas rates, and that has been a major impetus behind export growth”. He added.
Textile exports expected to reach $21 billion:
Dawood said that the textile sector has witnessed phenomenal growth over the last three years, adding that with the latest changes to the textile policy, the government now expects to further increase textile exports to $21 billion by the end of fiscal 2021-2022. Textile exports in the fiscal year ended in June 2021 were $15 billion.
“This means that there will be an increase in textile exports of $6 billion,” said Dawood, calling it “very good progress”. He further said that the textile industry has progressed by 23% while the government aims to further boost it by 26% by the end of current fiscal year.
Global share of Pakistan products
Talking about the contribution of Pakistan’s textile sector to the international market, the Adviser said:
- Pakistan’s overall share of the world textile market is 1.8%
- Local yarn produced in Pakistan alone constitutes 7% share of the global market.
Challenges faced by Pakistan exports
Highlighting the challenges faced by Pakistan exports, Dawood said that we need to:
- Move towards diversification and value-added products
- Maintain the competitive prices for energy
- Improve our infrastructure for garments particularly
“We are exporting 75% of all our goods to only 10 countries. This means that we have not achieved the level of diversification required. Only 15 tariff lines in the customs book constitute 50% of our export,” he said.
The government is increasing the capacity of the textile sector and for that purpose, it is importing machinery worth $435 million, 50% of which has already been imported while the rest remains.
“Our biggest challenge is that we have to be able to make this growth sustainable, and this is the challenge of the government’s entire economic team. We do not want that after 2-3 years the textile sector dips,” said Dawood, while expressing confidence that sustainability would be achieved.