If the govt gives consideration to proposals of the knitwear sector, the sector can grow exponentially in the next few years, Bilwani said. PHOTO: FILE
Exports of knitted garments reached $249 million in January 2019 compared to $214 million in January 2018, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
“If the government facilitates our sector [garments], it can alone earn foreign exchange equal to overall textile exports,” said Muhammad Jawed Bilwani, Central Chairman of the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA). “The knitting sector has a great potential for enhancing its exports.”
Moreover, knitwear garment exports grew 11.35% in July-January 2018-19 compared with the corresponding period of previous year.
Total textile exports from Pakistan stood at $7.8 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, up 1.19% from $7.7 billion in the same period of last year.
“World imports $225 billion of knitwear garment products annually and we can possibly grab $10 billion out of it,” Bilwani said, adding it depended on the adoption and implementation of the sector’s proposals by the government.
With continued support from the government, the knitwear garment sector could achieve new milestones and its export could be enhanced 20% every year, he stated.
Bilwani said the knitwear garment sector had topped the list of the textile group for the past three years since 2015-16 and it also provided the highest employment in the textile group.
He praised the government for taking all necessary measures for the enhancement of exports by according priority to the export sectors and introducing separate tariffs of gas and electricity, enabling them to enhance export efficiency.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 20th, 2019.
Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ