FAISALABAD, Aug 22: Export of clothing fell by 2.62 per cent in July this year due to uncompetitiveness of Pakistan textile products in the international market.

The Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) in a letter to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday expressed grave concern over the decline and termed it the result of ill-conceived policies.

The association said that the textile exports in July this year stood at $905.9 million as compared to $930.3 million in the corresponding month of 2007.

Highlighting the factors behind the dismal export performance the association pleaded that the Pakistani exports were heavily burdened with periodic price hike in raw material, high rate of duty on fibre, dyes and chemicals and steep surge in the prices of utilities and petroleum products.

It claimed that high rates of raw material and utilities had pushed the cost of production up by 30 per cent.

Besides, the anti-dumping duty in Europe and high tariff barriers in the US has also made exporters unable to compete with their rivals in the international market.

The PTEA appealed to the prime minister to restore the Research and Development (R&D) rebate on textile exports to save the industry from total collapse rendering millions of workers jobless.