When the textile quota system was about to end with the advent of the WTO regime, some overoptimistic Pakistani experts had begun to talk of the country's potential to be included among the three top textiles exporting nations - the other two being China and India - with the possibility of displacing India from the number two position.
Sadly, there is little sign of that happening. Instead as a Recorder Report points out, so far as garments are concerned, Pakistan is struggling to compete with a relatively minor regional competitor. Bangladesh, which produces only three percent of the cotton used by its textile industry and yet boasts garments exports of over $9 billion annually whereas Pakistan, meeting 90 percent of its requirements from its own resources, exports garments worth only around $3.4 billion.
No wonder the Recorder Report identifies insufficient investment in human resource development as a major reason for the industry's failure to realise its potential. As the report points out, there are not many textile training institutes of international standard to train manpower in the necessary skills.
The Textile College in Faisalabad, upgraded to a university five years ago, focuses mainly on spinning and weaving. Most of the industry's activity is also centred in these two areas.
Which is understandable. But as is obvious from the example of Bangladesh's competitive edge in the garments sector, there is a lot of work to be done to add value to what the spinning and weaving industries are doing. Clearly, this requires a special policy for encouraging R&D and innovation.
The vital tasks of marketing and branding of products also need to be given due attention. Unfortunately, human resource development is something the industries in this country view only as a governmental responsibility. It is true that governments even in the highly advanced countries play a significant role in promoting R&D based innovations, but the concerned industries too devote substantial funds and energy to the task.
Successive governments in this country have their own share of blame for the unsatisfactory performance of the textile industry. They did not to come up with a coherent and well-co-ordinated policy for this sector. Their efforts have mostly consisted of extending subsidies and limited R&D facilities. In these circumstances, however, it is good to note that the first ever textile industry policy is now on the anvil. As part of preparatory work the government had engaged a Swiss and a German agency to evaluate the prevailing situation.
Unsurprisingly, their evaluation reports did not give a satisfactory rating to their areas of study. The exercise, nonetheless, is indicative of the government's seriousness to frame an effective, result-oriented textile policy. One can only hope it will give a boost to the industry's competitiveness in the international market, helping it claim the third, if not the second, place among the world's leading textile exporting nations.