Textiles exports contribute US $ 40.2bn to national kitty

ISLAMABAD: The exports of textiles products are witnessing boost in the country as the sector contributed around US $ 40.2 billion precious foreign exchange to national kitty during more than last three years.

As per year-wise break-up Pakistan earned US $ 10.3 billion through exports of textiles products during 2009-10,US $ 13.8 billion during 2010-11 and US $ 12.5 billion during 2011-12.

A senior official here on Sunday said in first quarter of current year 2012-13 (Jul-Sep) the exports of textiles products have been recorded at US $ 3.60 billion which is a good sign.

He said in fact during last five years the exports of textile sector have seen an increasing trend from US $ 10.3 billion to US $ 12.5 billion, registering an increase of around 20%.

Enumerating the measures adopted during the period, the official said a detailed in-house analysis has been conducted as a result of which Textiles Policy (2009-14) document was prepared by the Ministry of Textile to identify the loopholes.

He said the Textiles Policy (2009-14) was duly approved by the Cabinet in which various initiatives were stated to support the textile sector.

Moreover, the official said the government was taking a number of initiatives to strengthen and support value-added products of cotton.

The indicative list of such interventions are drawback of local taxes & levies scheme, Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and social security contribution reimbursement scheme for women and handicapped, mark-up rate support scheme for textile sector, export finance mark-up rate support scheme, duty free import of textile related machinery facility, refund of past R&D support claims, establishment of garment cities at Lahore and Faisalabad and establishment of Pakistan textile city, Karachi.

Similarly, a comprehensive online registration exercise was launched to overcome the handicap of non-availability of verifiable data pertaining to textiles value chain in order to make sound policy decisions for the betterment of the sector.

The other initiatives are stitching machine operators training program (Phase-II) and establishment of Pakistan-Korea garment technology training institute, Karachi.

In addition, he said, some initiatives are in pipeline which include establishment of cotton ginning research & training institutes, skills development programme for textile industry and establishment of Karachi garment city.

He said under textiles policy initiatives, the government has disbursed Rs. 23.25 billion in last three years.