Bid to win textile products' buyers: India resorting to baneful propaganda against Pakistan

India has intensified its dissuasion drive, propagating globally about Pakistan's acute energy shortage and low textile output in a bid to convince the international buyers to sign deals with Indian exporters instead of Pakistanis, industry sources said on Wednesday.
"India is keenly following its plans to upstage Pakistan's textile exports by resorting to heinous propaganda against the country in a bid to book our existing global buyers for its products," they said. Pakistan may lose a large number of buyers in the wake of Indian propaganda and growing fears of energy crisis could increase production insecurity in coming months, they said, adding that "exporters are tired of moving around the globe to book new buyers in the absence of government's economic polices."
The country's textile industry is already facing financial crisis, as the energy shortage and poor law and order have discredited local exporters in international markets for late shipments, they said. "Internal military operation and militants activities has largely hurt Pakistan image globally," said Chief Co-ordinator, Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Prgmea) Ijaz Khokhar.
He said that the country's textile exports, which had earlier forecast to surge every month by at least 17 percent under GSP Plus regime, were still stagnant since the government has not prepared its plans to underpin economy. Secondly, he said, the power and gas shortages are continuously contributing to fall in textile exports, adding that the FBR has also decided to increase the existing refundable sales tax from three percent to five percent which will further weaken the finances for manufacturers.
"The proposed tax increase will add to the financial miseries of the local textile exporters and manufacturers, besides the Indian propaganda that is likely to deprive the country of valuable buyers," he feared. The country's value-added textile export grew by around eight percent in July-January period 2013-14 to $1.104 billion, which according to his views, shows a stagnation despite Pakistan enjoys a duty-free access to the EU's big markets.
"There should be at least 17 percent monthly growth in textile export to the EU if the GSP is fully utilised," he said, adding that the value-added textile exporters had proposed the government to help them explore new markets for the products in Eastern Europe. "Exports to Eastern Europe could help the country capitalise on the EU duty-free package as countries despite being part of EU are not yet fully explored by local exporters," Ijaz Khokhar pointed out.
The Western, Central and Northern Europe are almost saturated as many other countries are exporting their textile goods to satisfy their demands, he said, adding that new markets in the EU could be the wiser choice for the government to stabilise the country's falling exports. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), export of readymade garments increased to $1.104 billion in July-January period 2013-14 from $1.028 billion in the same period last fiscal year, rising by around eight percent.
Casting doubts on the PBS, he said "situation is before all of us. It is the export result by one department, which cannot independently be verified. Nonetheless, markets are under slump." He said the statistics, which a single federal government department issues every month, cannot be subscribed for its 'vagueness' to reflect the exports exact status. He said the country's textile production is stagnant while the official figures show a different picture altogether.
"If we consider such figures as genuine then the export growth is still lower than its projection since the country has a GSP plus status to export its products without paying duties," he said. The apparel textile export which stands at 5-7 percent monthly, he said, shows a bleak picture of the country's economic growth.