ll Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Punjab Chairman Adil Bashir
has vowed to work with the European Union (EU) on all the initiatives to
ensure sustainability and growth of the textile industry in Pakistan.
Talking to EU Ambassador-Designate to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara on
Tuesday, Bashir said Aptma had played an active part in securing the EU GSP
Plus status for Pakistan in 2014 to widen its market access.
“Since then, exports from Pakistan to the EU have increased 62%,” he said.
“In the early years, following approval of the facility, Pakistan’s exports to the EU grew significantly but they have become stagnant at €5.5 billion for
the last three years.”
He stressed that the present government had taken special measures to
encourage industrialisation and exports, and the business environment was
rapidly transforming in the country.
He added that Aptma, in collaboration with the government, was
formulating a long-term textile policy to set the direction for the
sustainability and growth of Pakistan’s textile sector.
“Investors are keenly looking forward to undertake BMR (balancing,
modernisation, and replacement), expansion and greenfield investment
projects in all sub-sectors of the textile value chain subject to creation of an
enabling environment,” he pointed out.
He said the industry had envisaged a 100% increase in textile and clothing
exports to $26 billion in the next five years with an investment of $7 billion.
The visiting envoy said the textile industry of Pakistan needed to prepare
itself for meeting the challenges of sustaining the GSP Plus status in a bid to
increase exports to the EU.
“Global consumer perception has completely changed and it has become
more conscious about environment-friendly products,” she said. “There is no
doubt that Pakistan has a vast potential to double exports, however,
perception management is the key for the government and industry to
maintain and sustain exports.”
Separately, during a visit to the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(LCCI), the ambassador said Pakistan and the EU had immense potential to
enhance trade in various sectors besides textiles.
She stressed that Pakistan needed to produce goods that were considered
competitive in the EU. “We are ready to help Pakistan enhance exports to the
EU and would like to be its partner in this regard,” she affirmed.
Source: The Tribune, India Thursday, 24 October 2019