ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomat in the United States met US-based Pakistani textile exporters to discuss how to boost exports and prepare for a major industry trade event next month, the Pakistani Consulate in New York said on Sunday.
Home Textiles Market Week 2026, also known as New York Home Fashions Market Week, is one of the industry’s largest business-to-business trade events.
Scheduled to be held from Sept. 14-17, the event will bring together manufacturers, brands, suppliers and retailers to display and source products including bedding, bath linens, curtains, rugs, decorative pillows and kitchen textiles.
“[Ambassador] Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, with CG [Consul General] Aamer Ahmed Atozai and Trade & Investment Counsellor Adnan Mahmood Awan, met US-based Pakistani home textile exporters in New York to discuss strengthening Pakistan’s export competitiveness and preparations for Home Textiles Market Week 2026,” the consulate said in a post on X.
The textile and apparel sector is Pakistan’s largest export earner, accounting for more than half of the country’s exports and contributing about 8.5 percent of gross domestic product while employing nearly 40 percent of the industrial labor force.
However, high energy costs, outdated infrastructure and policy uncertainty continue to constrain growth, leaving Pakistan trailing regional competitors such as Bangladesh.
The Pakistani government said last September that textile exports reached Rs886 billion ($3.2 billion) during July-August 2025-26, compared with Rs802.9 billion ($2.9 billion) in the same period a year earlier.
