Textile exports in Pakistan have registered a growth of 14.54 percent in terms of value during February 2014, stated S M Tanveer Chairman APTMA Punjab. The growth was majorly led by impressive performance by knitwear, bed-wear, towels and ready-made garments in quantitative terms during the month.

This clearly indicates that the textile industry remained operational due to availability of energy, both electricity and gas, during the winter. According to Tanveer, it is critical to keep the industry fully operational going ahead and the government should ensure uninterrupted supply of both electricity and gas to the industry. This will enable the industry to reap the benefits of market access from the EU under the GSP plus facility.

He added that textile exports were likely to reach to US$14.60 billion at the end of current fiscal in case the present growth momentum continues for which uninterrupted energy supply would be the prime condition. It will also enable the industry to produce exportable surplus, as the APTMA had envisaged new investments to achieve its vision of doubling textile exports from US$13 billion to US$26 in five years.

He noted that Pakistan's textile industry was the only industry operating without any government support, subsidy or any incentive against the regional competitors like India, China and Bangladesh where textile industry was heavily supported. In contrast, Punjab-based textile units were operating on negative subsidy, severe load shedding and heavy productivity losses due to circumstances beyond their control.