The EU extension of the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) Plus till 2022 would help Pakistan boost up its textile exports by $500 million on per annum basis, commented Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser to PM on Commerce.
According to him the textile sector had exhausted its full capacity and there was now need to undertake BMR (Balancing, Modernizing and Replacement) as well as new investment to construct new factories for meeting increased requirements.
He said the government was going to unveil the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) on coming Thursday soon after getting approval of the cabinet. “The tariff rationalization will also be approved during the ongoing month but it will be made public on the eve of next budget for 2020-21,” He disclosed that the government would maintain the existing tariff slabs in the upcoming budget with zero, 3 percent, 6 percent, 11 percent and 20 percent. He said the government had brought 1,635 products from slab 3 percent to zero in the last budget, so more items would be brought down into lower slabs of zero, 3 percent, and 6 percent. The last two slabs of 11 percent and 20 percent would not be altered in a major way in the coming budget, he maintained.
The adviser dwelt upon different issues including extension of GSP Plus status and its potential impact on Pakistan’s trade and its related challenges, finalization of Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) and upcoming Tariff Policy during his talk. On the GSP Plus status, he said that Pakistan’s textile exports to the EU in the aftermath of getting GSP Plus status doubled from $4 billion to $8 billion during 2014 to 2019. “Now our estimates suggest that Pakistan’s exports to EU can go up by additional $500 million on per annum basis,” he added.
The adviser said that the European Union assessed that Pakistan’s range of textile products did not expand despite doubling its exports, so there was a need to expand the export base by including more new areas of textile products to boost up exports.
