December 24, 2006	Sunday	Zilhaj 02, 1427

ISLAMABAD, Dec 23: Pakistan’s export of traditional products — carpets, sports, surgical, leather, footwear and footwear -- have recorded more than 40 per cent decline during the first five months (July-November) of the fiscal 2006-07 as against the corresponding months last year.

Official figures available with Dawn showed that export of cutlery, gems, jewellary, furniture, and handicraft also dipped.

The decline in export of these products is yet to be explored despite the fact that most of the sector enjoys exemption in customs duty and sales tax on import of machinery, raw material and utilities.

Official figures showed that export of sports goods declined by 22.25 per cent as against the same period last year. Of these, export of footballs declined by 22.54 per cent once considered a bigger supplier of soccer to the world market during the period under review. However, export of gloves rose by 46.47 per cent during the same period.

The export of carpets, rugs and mats recorded a negative growth of 19.09 per cent; and leather goods (garments and gloves) by 42.69 per cent during the months under review over last year. Of the leather goods, export of leather garments declined by 35 per cent, leather gloves 42.5 per cent and other leather products 77.31 per cent.

The export of footwear declined by 4.47 percent during the July-Nov 2006 over the same months last year. Of these, export of leather footwear dipped by 5.63 per cent and other footwear by 13 per cent. However, canvas footwear export rose by 87.92 per cent.Further analysis showed that export of surgical goods and instruments declined by 80.15 per cent, gems 42.54 per cent, jewellary 29.76 per cent, furniture 6.86 per cent and handicraft 100 per cent during July-Nov period this year over the same period last year.

Export of engineering goods increased by 3.91 per cent, auto parts by 41.13 per cent during the period under review. Among the primary commodities, export of rice rose by 21.21 per cent and meat and meat preparation 66.20 per cent. All other primary commodities, including fish products, recorded negative growth during the period under review over the last year.