Page 5 - September-October-2020
P. 5

05






                                           Increase in Pakistan textile exports;
                                           ‘Make in Pakistan’ initiative to

                                           strengthen exports

             Editor-in-Chief               Figures reveal a sharp contraction   Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor to
             Yousaf Fareed
                                           in exports since March 2020. The   the Prime Minister, on Commerce
                                           exports in April 2020 decreased to   and Investment commented that
             Editor                        $960 million, a 54pc reduction     government is pursuing the policy
             Hassan Saeed
                                           compared to April 2019. Exports of   of ‘Make in Pakistan’ diligently and
                                           knitwear, bedwear and ready-made   have rapid industrialization for
             Sub-Editor                    garments were also adversely
             Mehwish Sheikh                impacted in March 2020. But        substituting the imports and
             Noor Amjad                    exports of surgical goods and      enhancing our exports. This was
             Dr Shagufta Riaz              instruments and certain leather    remarked by him in a meeting with
             Dr Sharjeel Abid                                                 a delegation of Chambers of
                                           products (such as gloves) reported
                                           positive growth rates in March     Commerce and Industry at Ministry
             Advisory Board:               2020, both month-on-month as       of Commerce. the Advisor told the
             Dr. Tanveer Hussain           well as year-on-year.              delegation that the Government is
             Dr. Muhammad Tausif                                              following a three year plan,
                                           During these times, the United     gradually removing duties and
             Marketing Manager             States of America (USA) remained   tariffs, particularly on raw materials
             Abdul Haseeb
                                           the top export destinations of the   for the industry.
                                           Pakistani products during the
             Layouts                       eleven months of current financial   while, Bangladesh garment factory
             Faizan Khan
                                           year (2019-20), followed by China   owners on an average laid off 20%
                                           and United Kingdom (UK). The       of their workers in the wake of the
             Marketing Incharge            total exports to the USA during    first wave of the coronavirus
             Memoona Karim                 July-May (2019-20) were recorded   pandemic. Bangladesh is the
             Tanveer Ahmed
                                           at US $ 3588.819 million against   world's second-largest apparel
                                           the exports of US $ 3727.390       producer after China, but its
             Address                       million during July-May (2018-19),   industry leaders say international
             C-302, City Towers            showing negative growth of 3.71    retailers are either refraining from
             Main Boulevard, Gulberg II    percent during the period under    placing orders, delaying buying
             Lahore-Pakistan
                                           review, according to State Bank of   decisions or demanding steep
                                           Pakistan (SBP).                    price cuts.
             Phone: + 92 42 35 788 700
             Fax:   + 92 42 35 788 700
                                           Pakistani exporters must develop   In the financial year that ended in
                                           strategies to mitigate the adverse   June, Bangladesh's garment
             Email: info@textalks.com      impact from the crisis by targeting   exports totaled $27.94 billion (21.6
             Skype: textalks
                                           a range of products that may       billion pounds), down 18% from
                                           reveal potential but are within the   the previous year. Nearly half of
             www.textalks.com
                                           range of their own core            factories producing knitwear
                                           competencies. For instance, textile   products like t-shirts and sweaters
                                           exporters successfully shifting    are finding it difficult to remain
                                           towards production of personal     open. Low wages have helped
                                           protection equipment and face      Bangladesh build its garment
                                           masks may report a spike in their   industry, with some 4,000 factories
                                           export activity.                   employing 4 million workers.



                                                                                    September/October 2020
   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10