The president of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain, has said that there has been reduction of exports by 20 percent during the tenure of the incumbent government, which is disturbing, and called for out of the box solutions. He said that the present government has invested billions in the textile sector to boost exports as this sector is the largest foreign exchange earner and second largest job provider, but to no avail.
He noted with concern that the textile sector is not picking up despite the best efforts of the government. Mian Zahid Hussain said that on the other hand, Bangladesh, which imports 95 percent of its cotton has become the world's leading exporter of garments outside China. Cotton production has dwindled from 15 million bales to ten million bales, necessitating imports, and this has increased the cost of doing business, he added. The business leader said that those who links reduced exchange rate with increased exports are wrong as it is a temporary solution.
He said that the cost labour continues to increase in China, which has a 80 billion dollars' garments export market, and therefore many Chinese companies have moved to Bangladesh and Vietnam. For this reason the Chinese didn't opt for Pakistan due to its energy crisis and law-and-order worries, he noted. But as the energy crisis in this country has been controlled and law and order has improved, many Chinese companies will relocate to Pakistan, he said.
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