Pakistan’s textile exports catching up with neighboring apparel making countries
Pakistan textile and apparel industry is expecting a staggering 40% growth in the current 2021-2022 FY. Recently, Abdul Razak Dawood, Commerce Adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan said to Bloomberg, “Pakistan textile and apparel export earning is expected to surge 40% from a year earlier to a record $21 billion in the 12 months ending in June bringing cheer to its flailing economy.” Having said that, Dawood projected that the export figure would expand to $26 billion in the next fiscal year.”
Pakistan kept its textile and apparel factories open ahead of India and Bangladesh when the Covid-19 pandemic began back in 2020. Dawood signified that this has given the country edge over neighboring countries. “A lot of orders were shifted from Bangladesh and India to Pakistan,” he added. This move led the textile and apparel industry to get more orders from global brands including Target Corp and Hanesbrands Inc.
With boosting measures such as tax breaks, inexpensive loans and supplying electricity at rates equal to competitors in the South Asia region, Pakistan is doubling down to boost its exports. Abdul Razak Dawood concluded, “Pakistan is also pushing to intensify trade with Central Asian nations by signing agreements and allowing free movement of trucks. Trade has grown to $120 million in six months of the current fiscal year from $14 million of the entire previous year.”
The recent monthly data published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics for the first four months of the current financial year confirms that the textile and clothing export shipments are back on the growth of their quantity and dollar value.
The data shows that the textile shipments have surged by 3.8 percent to $4.8 billion between July and October from $4.6bn a year ago. The rise in the textile and clothing group has been faster than the 0.6pc growth in the overall export.
Source: www.textiletoday.com.bd
