Pakistan Continues Emphasis and Investment in Textile Exports

By Jim.Robinson|May 5, 2011

In August 2010, the government of Pakistan unveiled its first-ever “Five Year National Textile Policy,” which reflects the textile industry’s importance to the country’s long-term economic security. Designed to identify and address challenges that confront the sector, it also sets an export target of $25 billion and contains several measures designed to boost production of textile goods, according to a story published on www.pakwatan.com.

The strategy is already paying dividends for Pakistan, the 12th-largest textile exporter in the world:
• Pakistan’s textile and clothing exports topped $1.25 billion in the month of March 2011, compared with total exports of $867 million during the same period of 2010.
• Year-over-year (June-July), the country’s textile exports increased by more than 7 percent in 2009/10, jumping from $9.57 billion to more than $10.24 billion.
• Raw cotton exports increased 124 percent compared with 2008/09, reaching more than $195.6 million.
• Cotton yarn exports grew by more than 27 percent, from $1.11 billion in 2008/09 to nearly $1.43 billion last year.

Other sectors that showed export growth include knitwear, towels, tents/canvas/tarpaulin, readymade garments, silk and synthetic textiles, made-up articles, and “other textile materials.” Contraction was noted in several sectors, however, including cotton (carded or combed) and cotton cloth.

There are 391 units in the textiles sector, which contributed 8.5 percent to the country’s GDP, accounts for 56 percent of export revenues, and employs 38 percent of the total workforce.