FAISALABAD: Massive rejections of visa applications of the exporters intending to participate in Heimtextil-2023 in Frankfurt, Germany, may deprive Pakistan of getting export orders to the tune of $5 billion, said Captain Farooq Khan (retd), the senior vice chairman of the All Pakistan Bed-sheet & Upholstery Manufacturers’ Association (APBUMA).

Chairing an emergent meeting of APBUMA, he underlined the importance of Heimtextil for the export sector of Pakistan and said that it is the biggest global fair of home textile products in which Pakistan has expertise and could easily compete with other countries because of its quality products at a comparatively cheaper rate.

He disclosed that the majority of applications have been denied which is a shocking experience for the SME sector in particular.

Engineer Muhammad Bilal Jameel Chairman APBUMA North Zone said that the government must take notice of this situation and intervene so that maximum Pakistani exporters could participate and showcase their products in this fair. He said that Heimtextil-2023 is very important for the textile sector of Pakistan as it provides our exporters an opportunity to get orders and run their factories round the year to fulfill the demand of the European buyers.

“If exporters were not allowed to participate in this fair, it would deprive Pakistan of approximately 5 billion dollars expected to be earned through orders procured during this fair”, said Arif Ehsan Malik former Central Chairman APBUMA.

They have requested Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Federal Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar to intervene and convince the German Embassy to issue visas to maximum Pakistani exporters intending to participate in this fair.

They were optimistic that the government of Pakistan would take this issue seriously as Pakistan badly needed maximum export orders to stabilize its dwindling exports.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023