KARACHI, Dec 7: Pakistan Leather Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PLGMEA) chairman Fawad Ijaz Khan has requested US ambassador Ms Wendy Chamberlin to assist in confidence-building measures of American buyers and consumers in ‘Made-in-Pakistan’ products.

The PLGMEA chairman invited her to pay a visit to a leather garment factory in Karachi as a confidence-building step, just as she had done in Lahore.

The US is the biggest buyer of leather garments from Pakistan. The export of leather garments from Pakistan during 2000-2001 stood at $372 million, of which $68 million (18 per cent) was exported to the US.

The war in Afghanistan, Fawad Ijaz said, had seriously affected the production and export of leather garments, especially to the US. The buyers of leather garments from the US are not placing new orders after the Sept 11 incident. In fact, he said, some of the orders placed prior to Sept 11 had also been cancelled.

He said that in the months of Dec 2001 and Jan 2002, “we make our collection for the next autumn/winter 2002-2003 season and a lot of buyers visit Pakistan.” The buyers sell this collection in the fashion fairs, which are mostly scheduled for February.

He said in spite of “our best efforts the American buyers are not visiting Pakistan and most of them are not placing orders for the next year because of the prevailing situation. Above all, he said, the buyers were finding it difficult to sell garments labelled as “Made in Pakistan”.

Fawad appreciated the US ambassador’s gesture in visiting a textile factory in Lahore recently and reposing her confidence in Pakistan and its export industry.