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Correspondent
BEIJING: The present government of Pakistan has taken special measures to further develop textile industry and recently announced lucrative energy package to help recuperate from the COVID-19 shock was also commendable.
These views were expressed by Cheng Xizhong, visiting professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law.
Recently announced lucrative energy package to help textile industry with peak electricity rates, offers reduced tariffs on additional power consumption and fixes power price at $ 0.07 a unit and gas tariff at $ 0.065 per MMBtu, Cheng, also a senior fellow of the Charhar Institute said in his article published by China Economic Net (CEN).
He said the present government of Pakistan has taken special measures to gradually improve the business environment.
In order to improve the sustainability of the development of the textile industry and have clear direction and objectives, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) is formulating a long-term development strategy for the textile industry.
It plans to attract $ 7 billion of investment in the next five years, so as to increase the export volume of textiles and clothing by 100% to $ 26 billion.
Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton producer, the fourth largest textile producer and the twelfth largest textile exporter in the world. The textile industry is the most important pillar industry and the largest export industry in Pakistan. In recent years, Pakistan’s textile industry has been plagued by insecurity, high operating costs, declining competitiveness and sluggish demand in the international market. However, with the steady progress of the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistan’s textile industry and textile exports have a bright future, he added.
According to his observation, Pakistan’s textile production and exports have the following main advantages.
First, the industrial chain is relatively complete. Pakistan is one of the few textile countries in the world with the production capacity of the whole industrial chain.
At present, there are 1,221 cotton ginning mills, 442 spinning mills, 124 large-scale textile and garment factories and 425 small-scale textile and garment factories in Pakistan.
The annual production capacity of cotton yarn is about 11.3 million spindles, with a total of 300,000 textile machines, 350,000 power looms and 18,000 knitting machines.
The annual cotton cloth production capacity is 5.2 billion square meters, with a total of 700,000 industrial sewing machines.
Pakistan’s annual cotton production is about 13 million bales, the annual output of man-made fiber is about 600,000 tons, and the annual output of terephthalic acid is 500,000 tons. All these provide a solid foundation for the development of the textile industry.
