President of Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain said on Thursday that SAARC countries have abundant raw leather and can dominate global trade by joining hands. SAARC countries will have to soften laws to become a global hub of leather products, he added. Pakistani leather industry is on the decline since long while exports have decreased by 6.3 percent to US 1.19 billion dollars since getting GSP Plus status, he said.
He said that according to some estimates exports can fall by 20 to 25 percent during the ongoing fiscal and Pakistan share of 7.6 percent in the global leather trade will be reduced. Mian Zahid Hussain said the current situation is result of energy crisis, increasing cost of doing business, tax issues, lack of skilled manpower, weak marketing, absence of upgradation by the industry and apathy towards latest international trends. He said that Pakistani leather is best in the world but regional countries like India and Bangladesh are grabbing their share because of active support of their governments.