Textile exporters pin hopes on German exhibition
PHOTO: FILE
Pakistani exporters participating in Heimtextil 2023, an annual textile trade fair, have voiced hope that they will secure a record number of export orders during the exhibition.
The international exhibition is happening in Frankfurt, Germany and will run from January 10 to 13, 2023. Around 2,400 exhibitors from over 120 countries are taking part, including 260 exporters from Pakistan.
Pakistan has the fourth-largest number of exhibitors after China, India and Turkey.
To facilitate smaller exporters, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has also set up a national pavilion, in which 59 exporters will be presenting their products to global buyers.
Textile exporters said that Heimtextil would bring good prospects for Pakistan, hoping to find new buyers along with the existing ones.
Even as the exporters seemed optimistic about getting new orders, they expressed concern about the challenges faced by the industry in the wake of the country’s current economic crisis.
“At a time when the country is in dire need of foreign exchange, Heimtextil is a great and timely opportunity for not only textile exporters but also for Pakistan to increase exports and earn foreign exchange,” said Mubeen Saqib, one of the participating textile exporters.
Heimtextil creates new opportunities every year but in the current situation, it will be difficult to take advantage of these opportunities without government support, he added.
Many exporters believed that the textile industry could play an important role in tackling the ongoing foreign exchange crisis if the government resolved their issues.
Hasan Yaqoob, CEO of Hasan Textile Mills of Faisalabad, a participant in Heimtextil, was also hopeful that the exhibition would create opportunities for the Pakistani textile industry, especially in the US market.
Yaqoob elaborated that the Pakistani textile industry could benefit from the prevailing tensions between China and the US. For the same reason, he added, that the American and European buyers were giving preference to Pakistani products over Chinese.
He said that the Covid-19 pandemic had given rise to the demand for textile products in the healthcare sector, and Pakistan was currently competing with India and Bangladesh in medical textiles.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2023.
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