Foreign companies asked to consider technology transfer to Pakistan

With a view to help out Pakistani textile industry to face the challenges of globalisation in domestic as well as foreign markets, the French Textile Machinery Manufacturers (UCMTF) organised a seminar, here on Thursday.
The seminar was organised in collaboration with Agency for Promotion of French Companies abroad (UBIFRANCE) and the economic department of the embassy of France in Pakistan, under the patronage of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) and Pakistan France Business Alliance sponsored by Habib Bank.
The objective of the seminar was to help the Pakistani textile industry to take up the challenge of globalisation in the domestic as well as foreign market.
Addressing the seminar, Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, Punjab Zone, Samir Saigol said that the seminar would provide us an opportunity to interact with French textile machinery manufacturers. He also expressed gratitude to the French textile machinery association and the French embassy in Pakistan for organising this event.
Under the Textile Vision 2005 and in the wake of enormous opportunities, the textile industry has invested around $6 billion in spinning, weaving, processing, knitting and stitching sub-sectors of the textile industry, he said. He said that the textile trade is neither free nor fair to compete solely on comparative advantages.
The world trade in textile has been projected to expand from its current level of approximately $450 billion to $800 billion by the year 2014 on two accounts as textile capacity is closing down in the west and relocating to the east.
He asked the participants to think seriously for transfer of some technology to Pakistan. Currently total exports from Pakistan to France are around $336 million (2005-06). This is a meagre figure in comparison to the total imports of France, thereby suggesting a tremendous potential for improvement, he said.
He observed that Pakistan has never been a new market for French machines in textiles. Pakistani textile industry would reconsider making further investment, once it is provided level playing field to compete on the basis of comparative advantages in the international market place', he said.