Staff Reporter
Lahore.
Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab Adil Bashir has recently announced to work with the European Union (EU) on all the initiatives to ensure sustainability and growth of the textile industry in Pakistan.
He was speaking on the occasion of the visit of the EU’s Ambassador Designate to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara to the APTMA Punjab office here.
Chairman APTMA made a detailed presentation on the Association and highlighted that its members are corporate entities compliant to all social standards while producing goods predominantly meant for exports. He said the APTMA has taken an active part in securing of EU’s GSP+ status for Pakistan in 2014 to widen the market access available e to Pakistan.
Since the grant of GSP Plus status in 2014, Adil Bashir added, the exports of Pakistan to the EU have increased by 62%. In the early years of the facility, Pakistan’s exports to the EU witnessed significant growth but it has become stagnant at 5514 Million Euros for the last three years. He said the prime reason was relocation of buying houses of major retailers and brands to other competing countries besides the high cost of manufacturing in Pakistan.
However, he stressed, the present government has taken special measures to encourage industrialization and exports, and the business scenario is changing fast in the country. APTMA along with the federal government is formulating a long term textile policy to set direction for sustainability and growth of Pakistan’s textile sector, he added.
The Chairman APTMA said the prospective investors are keenly looking forward to undertake BMR, expansions, and Greenfield investment projects in all sub sectors of the textile value chain subject to the availability of enabling environment.
He said the industry has envisaged to double textile and clothing exports to US $ 26 billion in next 5 years with an investment of US $ 7 billion by setting up 1000 garmenting plants which would result in the creation of direct job opportunities for one million workforce. In the garments industry, he added, the predominant majority of the industry workforce is women, which would also bring about a gender-balance in the workforce and have a salutary effect.
Adil Bashir said the GSP+ regime calls for Pakistan to fully implement its commitments under 27 international conventions on human rights, good governance, labor, and environmental standards. APTMA has undertaken a number of sustainability initiatives to keep the textile industry at par with global standards and expectations, he added.
The visiting envoy said the textile industry of Pakistan needs to prepare itself for meeting the challenges of sustaining GSP Plus status so as to avail the opportunities of increasing exports to the EU. The global consumer perception has completely changed and it has become more conscious to socially responsible for environment-friendly products. There is no doubt that Pakistan has vast potential to double its exports, however, the perception management is the key for the government and industry to maintain and sustain, she added.
