Import of textile machinery: Law & order, energy crisis cause 59pc cut

ANWAR KHAN

KARACHI: The import of textile machinery has slumped by 59 percent during March this year due to the phenomenal decrease in textile exports and output capacity caused by the country's worst law and order situation coupled with severe energy crisis

"Manufacturers have started exporting the existing functional machinery to Bangladesh because Pakistan has growing issues of energy shortfall and routine violence in Karachi," said former Chairman of Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA), Saleem Parekh.

He said as to how the manufacturing units in Karachi and Punjab could expand their size when everyday violence and worst electricity and gas shortages had scaled down their production capacity to mere 50 percent.

"Knitting textile machinery was being exported in a large number to Bangladesh with its dying plants," he said.

He said that investors were ready to relocate their existing manufacturing setups to Bangladesh and elsewhere in the world if the present situation did not improve to help the businesses grow.

The country's import of textile machinery fell by 58 percent during March 2012 to 19.391 dollars as compared to the machinery import of 47.120 million dollars in March 2011, showing a decline of $27.729 million, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

On a monthly basis, Pakistan's import of textile machinery scaled down by 56.25 percent in March this year as compared to the machinery import of 45.278 million dollars in Feb this year, depicting a slump of 25.887 million dollars, the officials figures suggest.

During July-March period of the current fiscal year, the country managed to import textile machinery of 316.041 million dollars as against 357.233 million dollars imports in the same period last fiscal year, showing a fall of 11.53 percent or 41.192 million dollars.

"In the present negative business atmosphere, the investors are unable to expand their existing setups rather many are considering different options to shift their manufacturing units to Bangladesh where their output can grow phenomenally with ample energy supply and better law and order," viewed Parekh.

He said foreign buyers were not interested to visit Pakistan because of the widespread violence despite the country's quality production was recognised worldwide. "No buyer is willing to come to Pakistan and strike business deals with the local manufacturers," said former chief of PHMA.

Talking to Business Recorder, Chairman of Pakistan Apparel Forum (PAF), Muhammad Javed Bilwani, also attributed the huge decline in the textile machinery to the energy shortage and hooliganism, saying "exports of nearly all items of textile groups have witnessed decline because of the political uncertainty and poor law and order."

He said the Karachi and Punjab were the chief centres of the country's textile exports as both were badly hit either by energy shortage or violence, brining the manufacturing growth to a decline. He said Pakistan emerged as the only country of the world where the government's coalition partners were observing strikes and shutting cities to cease economic activities.