Despite efforts, our exports are on the decline and a latest report has revealed a record ninth straight decrease in our exports during the current financial year. In fact, the latest plunge is more severe as our exports have contracted by a whopping 17pc last month i.e. May.

As revealed by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, our merchandise exports have plunged to US dollar 2.18b year-on-year basis last month.

There is a general consensus in Pakistan that the main reason for the country’s economic decline is the poor performance of the export sector.

However, there is little talk about the areas where we have vast opportunities to grow to increase exports. Keeping this situation in mind, a two-day National Design Conference 2023 was organized at the Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design, Lahore.

The conference was of great importance in that it was attended by all the stakeholders and important personalities including industry and academia apart from the public and private sector. On this occasion, the key speaker drew the attention of the participants in the report that by improving the coordination between industry and academia, not only the challenges faced can be better faced but also the opportunities available to promote the industry.

The identification method can also be improved. Apart from this, experts also emphasized on holding a separate National Design Conference for each sector in the future, keeping in mind the potential of textile, furniture, fashion and gym and jewelry sectors, so that the relationship between industry and academia, to improve the existing condition, keeping in mind the needs of each sector.

It is worth-mentioning here that Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design is the only chartered university in the country which is in the public sector in the field of fashion and design according to international standards.

Conducting Professionals Degree Programme, Graduates from this institution are not only playing an important role in the promotion and development of the fashion industry, but these talented professionals are also making a valuable contribution to increasing Pakistan’s exports through design development and value addition.

It should be noted that the volume of the fashion industry at the global level is more than three thousand billion dollars and the volume of the textile industry is more than one thousand billion dollars. Similarly, the furniture industry is worth 600 billion dollars and the global trade of gym and jewelry is around 500 billion dollars. Besides, Pakistan is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of population. If, keeping these data in front of us, we can create a long-term integrated program for the development and promotion of these few sectors and make it possible to implement it, then this can change the destiny of the country in a short period of time.

It is also worth-mentioning that Pakistan’s textile exports can be scaled to new heights through value addition through collaboration between fashion and textile industry.

Although Pakistan is among the top ten textile exporting countries, our share in global textile exports is limited to five to seven percent.

Apart from this, we need to increase the share of knitwear, apparel and specialized fabric in textile exports because currently the share of hosiery knitwear is 35%, readymade garments 30% and bedwear 25% in the exports of Pakistan’s textile industry.

Therefore, if we promote the fashion industry in addition to doing research and development to improve our designs and materials, then we can get more foreign exchange by increasing the volume of exports as well as increasing their value.

On the other hand, in the furniture sector, Pakistani hand-carved wooden furniture is in high demand in global markets and is considered a status symbol. Pakistani wooden furniture is also in high demand in USA, UK, Sri Lanka, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait. Mostly bedroom furniture in US while kitchen and office furniture is more in demand in UK and Gulf countries. However, the furniture industry in Pakistan is largely dependent on traditional methods.

Therefore, there is a need to abolish duty on various imported products of machinery and hardware used for furniture manufacturing. This will boost the furniture manufacturing sector and meet the needs of the country as well as earn valuable foreign exchange for the country through the export of furniture.

Apart from this, Pakistan is also of unique importance in terms of gems and jewelry because Pakistan is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of gem deposits.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Baluchistan have immense reserves of gems in the south-east, most of which are found in the Hindu Kush, Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges, making Pakistan a major player in the global gem and jewelery market.

Our people have the ability to work in this sector with utmost diligence. It is noteworthy that the export of precious stones from Pakistan has increased by more than 123% during the last two years. However, in terms of value, the volume of import of gems is around 17 crore rupees, which is very less than the real potential of Pakistan. Therefore, the government should encourage the use of modern technology for cutting and polishing of precious stones so that exports can be maximized by producing gems of international standards.

Meanwhile financial experts say that the export sector is victim of decline mainly because of internal and external factors due to the closure of number of industrial units across the country, especially textile and clothing units.

According to them, the  root causes of the export decline include cost of doing business, working capital shortages and liquidity crunch due to the issues of refunds such as sales tax, deferred sales tax, lack of technology availability, income tax, and also the problems of local taxes and levies, and duty issues due to which the process is being delayed, with refunds system working very slowly due to various snags, which is taking toll on our exports.

Published in The Daily National Courier, June, 07 2023

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