ISLAMABAD, 7 October — Pakistan has geared up to triple its textile exports to $15 billion by 2005 and face up to open global competition that the quota-less world of WTO will unleash.
Textiles, the brightest star of the country’s manufacturing sector — and exports — has imported and invested more than $1.0 billion modern machinery while bracing to face the global competition. The investment and upgrading initiative is remarkable in a scenario where domestic and foreign private capital has tended to be shy to come forward because of the continued recessionary situation in the country.
Textile Vision-2005 — the joint effort of the government, industry, cotton farmers and all stakeholders — lays down the longterm strategic plan for the industry. The plan provides for “major investment in spinning, weaving and value added products.” “Over the last two years an investment of Rs.40 billion has been made in the textile sector. A major part of this has gone into spinning alone, and we believe that the future will bring in further investments in the value-added sector,” Nadeem Maqbool, chairman, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) says.
Although the textile Vision envisaged a high investment for manufacturing value-added products, it did not happen in the initial stages, but analysts say investment is now taking place on the back of an abundant availability of high quality cotton yarn and fabrics.
Part of the credit goes to the government’s free trade policy on raw cotton that helped development of the textile industry. It enabled the industry to undertake quality textile products. Pakistan now is the second largest importer of US Pima cotton. It is used to manufacture high count yarn for the downstream fabrics and value added products. Aptma is now asking the government for freer import of man-made fibers (mmf), that was, so for, discouraged in order to protect large investment in the domestic mmf-industry.
The current political uncertainties, in run upto the Oct. 10 national elections, too, have been unhelpful. This is because industry and business are watching and waiting to see what sort of a political government, the national elections throw up and how far the present military rulers recede into the background — if they move at all? “Good production, Good quality, and good governance,” plus a lot of new investment in modern, and largely imported, machinery is the recipe, Abdul Razzak Dawood, minister for commerce and industry, has prescribed for Pakistan to attain its textile targets. APTMA, representing this industry concurs, and is working hand in hand with Dawood and the government for the big push in textiles production — and more importantly — exports.
“While the government is endeavoring to get larger market excess into several markets, the textile industry should invest in modern machinery, upgrade and modernize to meet the needs of highly quality conscious global markets, “ says Dawood.
