Obstacles to Increasing Textile Exports?

Pakistan's industrial sector has been facing continuous difficulties for the last few years and its growth rate is showing a downward trend instead of increasing. In this regard, the situation has not been much better in the last fiscal year, but in the fiscal year 2024-25, the growth rate of the large-scale manufacturing sector has decreased by another one and a half percent compared to the fiscal year 2023-24. However, despite these difficult conditions, the textile sector has shown improvement, mainly due to the increase in value-added textile exports. It is worth mentioning here that the textile sector is the largest component of large-scale manufacturing and the largest workforce of the country works in this sector. In this regard, the textile sector can be called the engine of the country's economy, which textile exporters play an important role in keeping it afloat. The importance of textiles in terms of exports can be gauged from the fact that the sector’s share in total exports during the last fiscal year was more than 55 percent, while in the previous fiscal year this share was more than 54 percent. According to the latest statistics released by the Department of Statistics in this regard, a total of more than $32 billion was recorded during the fiscal year 2025-2024, of which the volume of textile exports was $17.88 billion.

If we examine the exports of the value-added sector in the textile sector, the share of knitwear, ready-made garments and bed wear has been the highest for the past several years. 

The good news is that the better tariff deal with the United States compared to other countries in the region has created more favorable conditions for Pakistan to increase textile exports. However, it is necessary that immediate steps be taken to resolve the problems faced by textile exporters for a long time. It is worth mentioning here that in the last fiscal year, Pakistan’s textile exports to the US were more than $5 billion, which constitutes 92 percent of Pakistan’s total exports to the US. Traditionally, although the focus of most of Pakistan’s textile exports has been on the US, the European Union and the UK, to avoid any unpleasant situation in the future, it is important for Pakistani exporters to focus on creating a place in non-traditional markets. In this regard, Russia, Central Asia, the Gulf, Africa and South America are important countries where there are excellent opportunities to increase Pakistan’s value-added textile exports.

In addition, African and South American countries can also become important centers of Pakistan’s textile exports because the demand for textile products is continuously increasing due to the growing middle class in these countries. However, to take advantage of these opportunities to increase exports, textile exporters need to provide electricity and gas at competitive prices compared to other countries in the region, reduce interest rates and pay refunds within a fixed time of 72 hours. These measures will not only reduce the production cost of textile exporters, but will also eliminate the capital shortage they are facing. In addition, the industry will be able to import new and modern machinery to increase its production capacity with this capital. Currently, Pakistan's textile industry is at a juncture where it has the potential to increase exports as well as contribute to the country's development. There is a golden opportunity to contribute, but it requires the support and cooperation from the government that has been consistently announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

There is no doubt that the current government has achieved significant successes in restoring relations with the US, China, the Middle East and Russia, but these good relations need to be used to increase bilateral trade. 

Pakistan’s textile industry has the potential and capability to play a key role in increasing exports by rapidly increasing its production. However, for this, the burden of energy, logistics and regulatory barriers will have to be reduced so that the engine of the country’s economy and exports can be put back on track. At present, Pakistan’s textile industry is facing more problems within the country than in the global market and without solving these problems, it is not possible to realize the dream of increasing exports. In this regard, the issue of electricity tariff is important because the price of electricity for industries is estimated to reach about 12 cents per kilowatt-hour in the current fiscal year. In comparison, other countries in the region are providing electricity to their industries at a price of 5 to 9 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Moreover, despite such high tariffs, exporters in Pakistan are facing operational problems like frequent power outages, voltage fluctuations and tripping. Due to these problems, not only the cost of production of industries is increasing but also the timely fulfillment of export orders is delayed. Similarly, interest rate in Pakistan is also higher than other countries in the region, which should be reduced to below ten percent. If appropriate steps are taken in this regard, there is no doubt that Pakistan’s textile exporters are ready to double the volume of exports and benefit from the growing demand for Pakistani textile products in new markets.

Pakistan today stands at a crossroads where two of its most vital sectors — industry and tourism — are pulling in different directions. On one hand, the textile sector is struggling under the weight of energy costs, policy barriers and financial constraints, yet it continues to generate foreign exchange and provide millions of jobs. On the other hand, tourism, especially in northern areas like Gilgit-Baltistan, is expanding rapidly, but without proper regulation or planning. Both cases highlight the same underlying problem: the absence of consistent, long-term policies that balance growth with sustainability.

Gilgit-Baltistan is a very important and beautiful region in terms of tourism, but its beauty and environment are also facing serious threats due to unplanned tourism. These threats have been rising with increasing intensity for the last five to six years, but the awareness of this is being reduced at the community and government level, which is a frightening matter in itself. Since this entire region consists of mountains, rivers, streams, pastures and water resources, it is environmentally fragile and it is very important to keep this sensitivity in mind for any development, otherwise the natural balance may be disturbed.

These days, Gilgit-Baltistan in general and Baltistan in particular are vulnerable. Clear examples of this are that seeing the beauty and tourism potential of this region, an army of investors, Zafar Moj, has suddenly turned to this place and is investing in building hotels, motels and guest houses. Investment is a good thing, but due to the absence of any legal framework, the long-standing suspension of the local and district government system, and the lack of appropriate tourism and environmental policies, environmental problems have started to arise. The side spectacle is that investors are buying lands around rivers, lakes, springs, streams and water bodies by paying huge amounts of money and construction is being carried out without an approved plan. Meanwhile, the administration and responsible authorities have turned a blind eye, due to which high-rise buildings of steel and cement are being built everywhere, whether it is a ditch or a slope, a stream or an ancient path or a pasture, the environmental effects of which are now starting to emerge.

While textiles remain the engine of Pakistan’s export-led growth, tourism could become its parallel engine for domestic income and international recognition. However, unchecked development in tourist regions risks eroding the very natural beauty that attracts visitors in the first place. Just as textile exporters demand competitive energy and financial policies to survive in the global market, environmental safeguards and urban planning are essential to protect Pakistan’s ecological assets. Without this balance, short-term profits — whether from exports or unplanned hotels — will undermine the country’s long-term economic and environmental future.

From a recent example of Skardu, we can estimate the harmful effects of this uncontrolled construction, the main reason for which is the turn a blind eye of the responsible parties. Hargesa Nallah is the only source of water coming from Sadpara Dam and it is used for both drinking and farming. Three large Kohls provide water to Skardu city and its surroundings from this Nallah. One of them is Kohl Aldeng, whose water fills the storage built to provide water supply to the entire city and then passes through various neighborhoods. In the initial part of this Kohl, the sewage water of the hotel, which was built on a steep slope of forty-five degrees vertically, was falling into the Kohl. Thus, this polluted water was going into the storage tanks and was being distributed to every house through pipes. On the anger and criticism of the local residents and elders of the area, the operational work of the hotel has been temporarily stopped and some safety measures have also been assured, but is this the management?

This is mentioned because the same situation is faced in every district and almost every tourist destination, but the environmental protection system is completely missing. There are no municipalities and district councils, there is no system to implement and monitor building codes anywhere. Everyone builds anything whenever they want, wherever they want, for which neither the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency nor the Town Planning Authority nor prior permission from any responsible department is required, only money in their pocket is a condition. The activity of these mentioned institutions can be gauged from the recent incident in the main city of Skardu, which was mentioned above. If all this is happening in Skardu city, it is futile to think about the darkness in the suburbs and rural areas. If you go from Skardu city to Kharmang and Khalu towards the east, you will see that there is no corner, edge or turn left from the road towards the Indus River where some building is not rising, so no good view from the road seems possible in the future. Similarly, look at Kachora, what a beautiful village full of natural beauty, now it has been turned into countless random hotels and car parks.

Recently, an Englishman has shared a video of a big hotel built on the banks of Attabad Lake on social media, showing how the sewage water of this hotel is mixing with the lake and muddying the blue transparent water. Who can lay hands on powerful people? When there is too much noise, one half-hearted action is taken and then the same trick continues in the same way. More or less the same situation is seen in almost every district. Skardu and Hunza are mentioned because a large number of tourists reach these two areas, so more environmental problems are possible. Development opportunities and business opportunities must be created, but not at the cost of natural scenery and environmental destruction.

Long ago, the water of the natural springs in Skardu was very cold and sweet and most people used to enjoy the water of these springs. Now, according to reports by WHO and other organizations, these springs not only contain bacterially contaminated water, but also arsenic and mercury have been identified. Since the city is uneven, the sewage of the upper neighborhoods goes to the city's water neighborhoods and gets stored. If the situation remains like this and no systematic management is done, then the thought of what will happen in the future is still disturbing. On the other hand, due to the increasing population and tourism, garbage and waste are spreading everywhere. Waste management, in which there is no mechanism for collecting garbage to recycling or dissolving it, is nowhere to be found, nor is any design being made. We never tire of calling these areas Switzerland. The truth is that the features of Gilgit-Baltistan are actually better than Switzerland, but the whole world will laugh at us and regret the disaster we are creating with our own hands.