Exporters dispute official statistics: garments exports post 10 percent growth

The country's garments export posted a robust growth of 10 percent to US 826.836 million dollars in July to November 2014-15, but exporters disbelieved the official statistics, saying "the ground realities contradict the growth." Overall readymade garments export shows a US 73.395 million dollars growth in July to November 2014-15, comparing to the apparel export of US 753.441 million dollars in July to November 2013-14, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
In term of volume, the garments export grew by 1,043,000 dozens (9.09 percent) to 12,540,000 dozens in July to November 2014-15 from 11,497,000 dozens in July to November 2014-15. However the valued added textile exporters rejected the growth projected through official statistics.
"There is an ample unsold cotton stock, which shows the value-added textile is not doing well in the absence of proper power and gas supplies to manufacturing units," Central Chairman, Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Prgmea), Ijaz Khokhar said. Criticising the government, he said the Commerce Ministry failed to evolve a plan to help the exporters capitalise on the GSP Plus regime to make huge export to the EU markets.
"It is mere a simple traditional growth shown by the only Statistics department which the exporters cannot challenge as there is no other statistics institution in the country," he added. He said that the official figures are not reflecting on the real conditions of the country's export, adding that the growth should have been more than 30 percent instead of 10 percent since the country enjoyed the GSP Plus status in one of the world's expensive markets.
"The government has no aim or vision to boost up the export as there has been no new textile policy to help steer the exporting sector to a healthy growth," Khokar added. He said the country's total value-added textile output stands at around 60 percent for want of gas and supplies to manufacturing units, which clearly denies the government's claims projecting a healthy growth of 10 percent.
"The growth of textile sector remained between five percent and 10 percent, every year and it was not big achievement," he added. "The country's value-added textile sector has the capacity to capitalise on the biggest opportunity to gain maximum benefits from the GSP Plus regime but the government shows inability to support one of the largest export industry of the country," Ijaz Khokhar mentioned.
In November, readymade garments export stood at US 169.068 million dollars up by US 19.217 million dollars (19.19 percent) from US 149.851 million dollars in November 2013. Volume of garments export also posted an increase of 187, 000 dozens (8.24 percent) in November 2014 to 2,456,000 dozens from 2,269,000 dozens in November 2013. Ijaz Khokhar showed displeasure over the lack of marketing policy by the government to help increase the country's stagnant textile export. "The government has failed to establish a market plan for the EU markets under the GSP Plus programme," he said.