The government has taken a serious note of a highly significant decline - about 12 percent- in textile exports of the country during last one month (July) and called an emergency meeting of the Federal Textile Board (FTB) on Monday (today), it is learnt. The body would consider ways and means not only to restrict further decline in textile exports but would ponder on proposals as to how to boost exports.
According to the latest figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, country's textile exports declined to $1.03 billion in July 2015 from $1.16 billion of the same period of the previous year, showing reduction of 11.72 per cent.
Textile exports, which have long been the backbone of foreign exchange earnings for Pakistan, are continuously on the declining side or the last several months. Textile sector's share in country's exports is around 55 per cent but its share in global trade is on the decline due to multiple issues including energy crisis, input cost, law and order situation, fiscal policies etc. Pakistan's share in global textile trade dropped from 2.2 percent to 1.8 percent during last five years and may limit to 1.5 percent by 2020, sources added.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - the Minister-In Charge of the Ministry of Textile Industry in the absence of a federal minister since March 2015 - has designated Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan as chairman FTB. Chairman FTB called an emergency meeting today where representatives from finance, commerce, industries, national food security and research ministries and all the 11 textile associations would participate.
FTB was restructured and notified to facilitate the textile sector stakeholders. The platform was supposed to be used to monitor the implementation of textile policy (2014-19) including rationalisation of cess/surcharges applicable on textiles value chain industry and its exports and its utilisation.
The Research, Development and Advisory (RDA) Cell was made the secretariat of the board while the existing RDA Cell officers would have been responsible for the overall implementation and monitoring of textile policy. However the Board is yet to meet since October 2014, sources added. In order to streamline the board's mandate and effectiveness, it was decided in the last meeting chaired by former textile minister Abbas Khan Afridi to conduct quarterly meetings of the board.
Government announced textile policy (2014-19) in February 2015 envisaging doubling textile exports from current $13 billion to $26 billion in next five years, besides creation of 3 million new jobs. However instead of increase, continuous decline has been observed in textile export, the official added.
Sources further said that the country's textile industry has a potential to double its exports from $13 billion to $ 26 billion but is not performing at full capacity and 30 percent of the industry has been closed with value of $3.5 billion of total export. Textile sector seems to be least priority of the government on the face of declining exports and the sector is without a dedicated minister for the last six months and has been facing numerous problems, they added.
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