Pakistan’s apparel exports hit $6.2bn as commerce ministry charts growth plan

Pakistan’s apparel exports have achieved a historically high level of $6.2 billion during the first eight months of the current financial year 2024-25, registering a growth of around 19% compared to the same period last year.

The figures were disclosed to Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan during an internal meeting at the Ministry of Commerce with Shakeel Ahmed Mangnejo, Special Secretary, Commerce and Mudassar Raza Siddiqi, Director General (Textile).

According to a statement released by the commerce ministry on Saturday, Siddiqi apprised the minister that Pakistan’s textiles and apparel industry has remained resilient in the face of global economic headwinds and domestic challenges.

He said the textile industry regained its lost momentum with a growth rate of 9.3% in the first eight months of the current financial year 2024-25 as compared to the corresponding period of the last financial year.

On the other hand, DG (Textile) shared that Pakistan, once the third-largest producer of cotton, has dropped to sixth place globally.

Textile exporters urged to discover opportunities in emerging markets

Comparing the case of Pakistan with Brazil, Siddiqi highlighted that both countries have almost the same crop acreages, however, the yield per hectare of Brazil is three times higher than that of Pakistan due to the adoption of high-technology seed varieties, precision agriculture, mechanized harvesting, rainfed irrigation, and use of renewable energy.

Jam emphasized that disease-resistant and climate-resilient seed varieties, prohibition of uncertified seeds and chemicals in the local market and adoption of good agricultural practices will help revive local cotton production and farmers’ profitability.

During the meeting, Siddiqi presented a Short to Medium to Long Term Work Plan to the commerce minister to boost exports of Pakistan’s textiles and apparel sector by opting for interventions “to reduce cost of manufacturing, enhancing economies of scales, targeted marketing events, diversifying to high value-added finished products including technical textiles, expanding to non-traditional markets, simplifying the non-tariff and technical barriers to trade, getting access of potential markets, developing and implementing national action plan on sustainability and circularity, facilitating export-centric R&D projects at firm level, aligning academic activities with industrial needs, and most important developing national Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) development program”.

Jam further noted that Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world with a complete textile and apparel value chain and emphasized the implementation of strategic interventions to address key challenges and unlock the sector’s full potential.

The minister expressed optimism about increasing textiles and apparel exports through collaborative efforts and supportive policies.