Textile sector recovered from pandemic, says NBG chief

KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group and president Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum Mian Zahid Hussain said textile is the first major sector which has recovered from the pandemic.

Supportive policies, timely import of cotton and trade tensions between the US and China has infused new life in this most important sector of the economy, Zahid said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said the textile exports jumped by nine percent over the exports of Nov 2019 to reach 1.28 billion dollars while the value added sector played a major role in it.

He said that failure of cotton crops has reduced exports of yarn and grey cloth but the exports of all value added items except for readymade garments has jumped.

Abolishment of regulatory duty on the cotton imports has also helped the textile sector which has enough orders to run on full capacity for the next six months to earn foreign exchange for the country, he said.

The business leader said normalised relations between the US and China will push western buyers to the competitive markets; therefore, steps should be taken to keep the momentum in exports which include releasing refunds, improving cotton crop and provision of energy on competitive rates.

He said that local cotton output has dropped by fifty percent while the cotton production has doubled in neighbouring India which must be studied while efforts are needed to ensure continuation of GSP status which is set to expire in 2023.