Bed-wear export slumps by 12.15 percent during February

Due to persistent crisis engulfed the textile sector as a whole since the abolishment of quota in the European Market, the bed-wear export has slumped by 12.15 percent during February 2007 as compared to February 2006.
Textile exporters held the government's inconsistent and ineffective export policy failed to pave the way for exporters to compete with the other third world and regional countries in the world market by offering incentives.
"Exports of all textile items, and bed-wear in particularly have been ignored by the government, which puts a negative impact on its growth resulting in trade deficit and home industry's collapse," a leading bed-wear exporter said.
According to official statistics, during February 2007, bed-wear export remained $126.259 million against $143.727 million during February 2006, showing a slump of $17.468 million.
Similarly, bed-wear export has registered a decline of $10.983 million or 8 percent during February 2007 against $137.242 million during January 2007.
Bed wear export has also declined by 5.29 percent during July-February of the current fiscal year 2007 against the corresponding period of the last financial year 2005-06.
The bed-wear export stood at $1.263 billion during first eight months of the current financial year as compared to $1.334 billion bed-wear export of the same period of the last fiscal, depicting a decline of $71 million during July-February of the current financial year.
Exporters have demanded of the government to device a textile export policy in line with the recommendation they had set forth to Prime Minster Shaukat Aziz and Textile Ministry in order to scale down the continuous declining textile export trend.
They said that the government should also decrease the charges of electricity and gas on immediate basis, in addition to making the export at zero-rate so that textile exports could be increased.
They criticised the government for its indifferent attitude led to the export policy failure, saying that "there should be a policy for the betterment of textile manufacturing sector so that textile products could be sold at lower prices in the world market against India and Bangladesh".