Textile sector: Loss of investment feared

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday said investors are losing interest in the textile sector which is the largest foreign exchange earner and biggest urban employment provider of the country. The situation needs urgent attention of the authorities as the recent developments can cast a negative shadow on the economic future of Pakistan, it said. He said that many textile units have shifted to other countries while major groups are finalising relocation plans which is very worrying development as it is directly providing jobs to 3.5 million people. Bangladesh which is completely dependent on imported cotton has become a favourite destination for Pakistan’s textile sector because of their enabling policies, labour costs and special concessions offered. “ Some 80 countries have free market excess to EU and US but Pakistan, the frontline state in the war on terror, has been denied the facility,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th,  2011.