April 11, 2002	Thursday	Muharram 27, 1423

KARACHI, April 10: The Textile Commissioner’s office is carrying out a detailed survey to assess the competitive potential of the spinning, weaving and value-added sectors of Pakistan’s textile industry with those in China and India.

“It is a stock taking exercise before 2005 when all trade barriers will be dismantled and domestic industry will be exposed to onslaught of all varieties of goods and services”, an official explained.

“Pakistani textile groups are suffering from falling average unit prices of their products, cancellation of export orders after September 11 and losses in the industry are growing,” a market analyst said.

China’s entry in WTO and its access to EU and US is causing sleepless nights to a few leading groups but many are still optimistic, believing that Beijing’s thrust is now on high quality and higher value-added products. “This gives Pakistan ample opportunity to fill the gap in low quality and low value-added textile items”, a textile dealer said.

Initial assessment blames low labour productivity, high power charges, imprudent marketing, excessive financial charges and of course the all pervading global recession in post September 11 period for the dismal performance of Pakistan’s textile industry.

Pakistan’s textile exports are stagnated at around $6 billion for last few years showing no signs of any improvement. “Less than a dozen textile products and hardly half a dozen countries is the export story of Pakistan’s textiles”, remarked Mohammad Idrees Ahmad, the Textile Commissioner in a chat with Dawn.

In the last nine months of the current fiscal year, total textile exports has shown a small decline of a little over one per cent. Total textile exports are $4.14 billion in July-March 2001-02 as against $4.19 billion in same period of 2000-01.

Pakistan’s leading textile groups continue to receive the imported textile machinery and equipment, though at a slow pace, in nine months of the current fiscal year. Total import of machinery and equipment amounted to $307.70 million.

Pakistan’s textile exports remain confine mostly to USA and EU mainly with some quantities trickling out to the Far East and Middle East. “We are basically a low quality and low value producer and supplier of textile goods,” a senior executive of a nationalized commercial bank said while pointing out that textile mills remain the single largest loan defaulting segment and the biggest borrowers.

He appreciated the difficulties of many textile groups who are now in a process of upgrading their production techniques, settling their payments with the banks. Quite a good number of textile units have changed hands and the managements are in process of settling down.

Textile Commissioner considers Pakistan’s textile industry to be far more competitive than that in India when it comes to pricing of raw material, production management and techniques. But then India has edge