Overview of the textile Industry:  

The textile sector enjoys a pivotal position in the exports of Pakistan. In Asia, Pakistan is the 8th-largest exporter of textile products. The contribution of this industry to the total GDP is 8.5%. It provides employment to about 15 million people, 30% of the country work force of about 49  million. The annual volume of total world textile trade is US$18 trillion which is growing at 2.5 percent. Out of it, Pakistan’s share is less than one per cent. The development of the Manufacturing Sector has been given the highest priority since Pakistan’s founding with major stress on Agro-Based Industries. For Pakistan which was one of the leading producers of cotton in the world, the development of a Textile Industry making full use of its abundant resources of cotton has been a priority area towards industrialization. At present, there are 1,221 ginning units, 442 spinning units, 124 large spinning units and 425 small units which produce textile products.  

The industry consists of large-scale organized sector and a highly fragmented cottage / small-scale sector. The various sectors that are a part of the textile value chain are: Spinning, most of the spinning industry operates in an organized manner with in-house weaving, dying and finishing facilities. Weaving comprises of small and medium sized entities. The processing sector, comprising dyeing, printing and finishing sub-sectors, only a part of this sector is operating in an organized state, able to process large quantities while the rest of the units operate as small and medium sized units. The printing segment dominates the overall processing industry followed by textile dyeing and fabric bleaching. The garments manufacturing segment generates the highest employment within the textile value chain. Over 75% of the units comprise small sized units. The knitwear industry mostly consists of factories operating as integrated units (knitting + processing+ making up facilities). The clothing sectors both woven and knits are mainly clustering in Karachi– Lahore and Faisalabad where sufficient ladies labor is available. Pakistan is the world’s 4th largest producer and 3rd largest consumer of cotton. The Textile and Clothing Industry has been the main driver of the economy for the last 50 years in terms of foreign currency earnings and jobs creation. The Textile and Clothing Industry will continue to be an important engine for future growth of the economy; there is no alternative industry or service sector that has the potential to benefit the economy with foreign currency earnings and new job creation, especially if synergy is developed among different sub sectors and efforts are made to aggressively grow the Ready made Clothing Sector. Pakistan’s Textile Industry had proved its strength in global market during the last four decades. It has proved its strength even in post quota era by not only sustaining its position but, also showing growth during 2005 to 2007, but declined to $11.1 billion in 2008 due to financial and economic melt down globally. The Garment Sector & especially the Knit Garment Sector need special focus in future policies.                                                                                                                                                                                       GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT   The Textile & Clothing trade has increased; from US$ 212 Billion in 1990 to US$ 612.1 Billion in 2008.The clothing trade is growing at a faster rate. Pakistan exported textiles worth $7.19 Billion and clothing worth $3.9 Billion in 2008. The year 2009 was dismal period. The industry was confronted with problems of multiple natures. The global economic crisis in Oct. 2007 had impacted the trade badly. Weaker demand in the developed economies limited the expansion of global trade. The 12%drop in the volume of world trade in 2009 was larger than most economists had predicted. World trade and output are currently in a recovery phase. The WTO Secretariat estimates that in year 2010 world exports in volume terms will grow by 9.5%, developed economies’ exports will expand 7.5% and the rest of the world (developing economies plus the Commonwealth of Independent States) will advance 11%      Ancillary Textile Industry This topic includes cotton spinning, cotton cloth, cotton yarn, cotton fabric, fabric processing, home textiles, towels, hosiery and knitwear and readymade garments. These components are being produced both in the large scale organized sector as well as in unorganized cottage / small & medium units. The performance of these various ancillary textile industries is evaluated below.  

i) Cotton Spinning Sector The Spinning Sector is the most important segment in the hierarchy of textile production. At present, it is comprised of 521 textile units (50 composite units and 471 spinning units) with10.1 Million spindles and 114 thousand rotors in operation with capacity utilization of 89 percent and 60 percent respectively, during July – March, 2008-09.  

ii) Cloth Sector The pattern of Cloth Production is different than spinning sector. There are three different sub sectors in weaving via, Integrated, Independent Weaving Units, and Power Loom Units. There is investment in the shuttle-less looms both in integrated and independent weaving sector. This trend is likely to intensify in the country. The Power Loom Sector have modernized and registered a phenomenal growth over the last two decades. The growth of power loom sector is due to favorable Government Policies as well as Market forces. This sector is producing comparatively low value added Grey Cloth of mostly inferior quality. Problems of the power loom sector revolve mainly around the poor technology, scarcity of quality yarn and lack of institutional financing for its development from unorganized sector to an organized one.                                                                                                                                                                                           iii) Textile Made-Up Sector This is the most dynamic segment of Textile Industry. The major product groups are Towels, Tents & Canvas, Cotton Bags, Bed Wear, and Hosiery & Knitwear & Ready made Garments including Fashion Apparels                                                                                                                                   a) Hosiery Industry There are about 12,000 Knitting Machines spread all over the country. The Capacity utilization is approx 70%. There is greater reliance on the development of this industry as there is substantial value addition in the form of knitwear. Besides locally manufactured machinery, liberal import of machinery under different modes is also being made and the capacity based on exports is being developed.  

b) Ready made Garment Industry The Garment Industry provides highest value addition in Textile Sector. The Industry is distributed in small, medium and large scale units most of them having 50 machines and below, large units are now coming up in the organized sector of the industry. The industry enjoys the facilities of duty free import of machinery and Income Tax exemption. This sector has tremendous potential. Exports remained under pressure.   

c) Towel Industry There are about 7500 Towel Looms in the country in both organized and unorganized sector. This Industry is dominantly export based and its growth has all the time depended on export outlets. The existing towels manufacturing factories are required to be geared up to produce higher value towels.  

d) Canvas This is the highest raw cotton consuming sector. The production capacity is more than 100 million Sq. Meters. This value-added sector has also great potential for export. The 60% of its production is exported while 40% is consumed locally by Armed Forces, Food Department. Pakistan is the cheapest source of supply of Tents and Canvas.  

iv) Synthetic Fiber Manufacturing Sector This sector has made progress in line with demand of the Textile Industry. Presently there are Five (5) Polyester Fiber Units with production Capacity of 640000 Tons per annum; one acrylic fiber unit  has started its commercial production in December 1999, with rated capacity of 25,000 Tons per annum. Besides import of M.M.yarn, Fibers is permissible to supplement the local production.  

v) Filament Yarn Manufacturing Industry  The Synthetic filament yarn manufacturing industry picked up momentum during 5th Five Year Plan when demand raised and hence imports increased and private sector was permitted to make feasible investment in the rising market conditions.                                       vi) Art Silk and Synthetic Weaving Industry Art Silk and Synthetic Weaving Industry has developed over the time on cottage based Power Looms Units comprising of 0810 looms spread all over the country. There are approximately 90,000 looms in operation of which 30,000 looms are working on blended yarn and 60,000 looms on filament – yarn. Besides, there are some mobile looms which become operational on market demand. The major concentration is in Karachi Faisalabad, Gujranwala, and Jalalpur Jattan as well as in the unsettled area (Bare – Swat – Khyber Agency and Wazirstan.

vii) Woolen Industry The main products manufactured by the Woolen Industry are Woolen Yarn of 6.864 M. kgs, Acrylic yarn 6.960 M. kgs, Fabrics 3,445 (M.sq.meter), Shawls 13.353 Million, Blanket 657,235,and Carpet 3.5 (M. Sq. meter).   

                                                                                                                                                                             Decline in Textile industry growth:                                                                            i) Increase in EFS (Export Finance Scheme) The textile sector faced a decline in its growth due to severe energy crises specifically, value added sector in the country felt the burden of 100 basis point increase in EFS rate from 8.5% to 9.5%, besides a rise in energy tariffs.   

ii) Electricity and Gas Crisis The lower availability of electricity was also a key constraint for the value-added textile sector. According to State Bank’s quarterly report, unfortunately, due to circular debt local refineries could not provide required Furnace Oil quantity to power generation companies. As a result, import burden has increased significantly for Furnace Oil provision. The growth seen in Jul-Dec FY10 period will be challenging to sustain in the remaining months of FY10 given the inadequate energy balances in the country. For instance, the increase of 0.5 percent in gas exploration during Jul-Nov FY10 period does not seem sufficient to fuel a quick recovery. It must be noticed here that gas constitutes more than 50 percent of total energy consumption by industries. Similarly, scanty power investments in recent years allowed only a small increase in electricity generation   

capacity; which too often remains under-utilized due to water shortages or insufficient provision of gas and/or furnace oil. For instance, as winter rains remained low in FY10,   

the Hydrel generation capability declined sharply in January 2010. Similarly, gas sales to power sector also declined during H1-FY10. Consequently, the use of furnace oil (FO) for thermal generation increased. The gas load shedding to textile industries for 1 day in a week decreases the production of textile finished products due to dyeing process.  

iii) Increase in Yarn Prices The cotton prices increase from 2000 to 6600 per 40 kg due to the export of yarn, the yarn export will amount to 614 million kg (which represents 14% of textile exports in 10MFY10 vs 11% in 10 MFY09) which increase the both export volume and local profit/margins. As a result of high exports, domestic supply has also been short in FY10 leading to considerable run-up in domestic yarn prices. Positive fall through of this has reflected in YTD margins for yarn producers (which have remained steady despite 35% higher Y-o-Y cotton costs). The spillover of the same has however been negative for the value added sector that purchases local yarn. The federal government imposed 15% percent duty on all types of yarn export for the next 60 days to protect the value added sector. The duty has reflected 47% M-o-M decline in May-10 yarn exports which suggests the 12-mth heyday for yarn exporters may be nearing an end.                                                                                                                                         iv) Increase in Minimum Wage  Government increase minimum wage from Rs.6000 to Rs.7000 which increases the fixed cost of the textile finished product. Because of this the prices of the textile product increases and in this way the Pakistan textile products not compete with the neighboring countries prices. In result ultimately many textile owners shut down their textile mills.  

v) Double freight for Punjab & Khyber Pakhtunkhwa textile mills The Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa textile owners cannot compete with Sindh textile owners because the dyes and other finishing material first transport to Punjab from Karachi port and the finished textile product again transport to Karachi port for export purposes. Ultimately double transport cost on the Punjab textile product which increase the price competition between Sindh and Punjab exporters because of this Punjab & Khyber Pakhtunkhwa textile mills.  

vi) Lack of transportation facilities The railway system in Pakistan is in poor condition because of less availability of locomotive engines, single track and corruption in railway due to this railway is not a good option to transport the textile product container to Karachi. Last option to transport the container to Karachi port is through trailer which required lot of time to transport from Punjab to Karachi and is expensive than railway charges which increase the prices and shrink the profit margin of  textile mills owners.                                                                                                                                                                                        vii) Tariffs & trade agreements While FY10 started with significant positive noise on potential reduction/removal of tariff and trade barriers for Pak textile exporters, the same has not played out too excitingly YTD. Mar-09 removal of 5.8% anti dumping duty on Pak bed wear exports to the EU has not yet reflected in bed wear exports (-4% YTD FY10) while talks of the EU extending GSP-plus to Pakistan (which could result in reduction in tariff to 4-4.7% from 11.311.7%) also appear to have reached a stalemate. With the entrance of Pakistan in the list of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP-plus) eligible nations, Pakistan textile exports have the potential to reach 20 billion US dollars.                                                                                                        Before having detailed look on Pakistan’s textile industry it is imperative to know its meaning. The word textile is a noun means a fabric made by weaving, knitting, etc or cloth. Textile industry includes cotton yarn, cotton cloth, garments, bed wear, raw cotton, knitwear and other textile materials. In Pakistan 39%* population is employed in textile industry while its contribution to GDP is 8.6%*.Despite being the fourth largest cotton producer Pakistan has to face a tough challenges from her competitors like china, India and Bangladesh. The fiscal Year 2008-09 remained gloomy because of the following reasons:

                         

• Global Economic crises.

• Increase in the cost of utilities like electricity, petroleum, transport and gas etc domestically.

• Globalization

• Increase in competition due to Post-quota scenario.

• 10 to 15% lose in intrinsic value of cotton due to high degree    contamination in its picking and handling.

• Lack of facilities and necessary infrastructure to the textile sector.

• Lack of cotton fiber testing laboratories.

• Lack of research and training institutes in Pakistan etc.                                                                                               

               Increasing Trends     

                     

                 Decreasing Trends             

                                          Presently Pakistan has a capacity of converting one bale of cotton into $1000 while her competitor is converting it up to $4000 which is alarming for Pakistani government. Considering it, Government has presented textile policy 2009-14 encompassing plans like technology up gradation fund, export house schemes, marketing insurance schemes etc. In the past governments had made promises to accelerate the growth rate of this gigantic industry of Pakistan but all remained hollow which is clear from the fact that textile industry’s share in export had declined from 66% in 2004 to 53.7% in 2008-09.Now present government should take an immediate actions to carry out her policy other than making her stronghold in politics.                                                                                                                                                

Importance of textile industry According to the “ECONOMIST” intelligence report of August 2003 for Pakistan the following observations have been made: Despite Government efforts to diversify exports and widen the industrial base, the industrial sector remains dominated by the Textile sector. Textile Sector still represents 46% of total manufacturing and provides 68% of Pakistan’s Export receipts. The strong performance stemmed from two factors :

a Increase in import quotas especially by U.S.A, EU and TURKEY
b Textile industry has invested over US$1.5 billions in new technologies and modernization in the last 3 years.

Efficiency and the innovation in textile is the only hope to get the country out of economic problems.a Increase in import quotas especially by U.S.A, EU and TURKEY

b Textile industry has invested over US$1.5 billions in new technologies and modernization in the last 3 years.
Efficiency and the innovation in textile is the only hope to get the country out of economic problems.

Present status of Pakistan  Textile engineering sector  The Pakistan Textile Engineering Sector is underdeveloped and under utilized. Mostly it caters in the form of spares, components for modernization and machines used in cottage or small scale industries. A cursory look at the structure of Pakistan Textile Industry shows that most of them are cottage industry, small/medium industrial units and few large integrated state of art units. The number of units which fall under each category varies from sub-sector to sub-sector. Similarly the Textile Engineering Units also vary from small, medium and large in size. The Textile Engineering Industry comprises approximately 80% small work shops, 15% medium engineering Units and 5% large Engineering Units. It will not be out place to mention that the large engineering units are in Public Sector. The small and medium Engineering Units work on reverse Engineering principles, only few work according to Engineering Drawings and still fewer have Testing or Quality Control facilities. On the basis of initial survey of Textile Engineering Units (Not complete yet), approximately 500 units are engaged all over Pakistan, employing approximately 50000 work force which is mostly skilled. Even under the present conditions and without any support, Pakistan Textile Engineering Industry is providing import substitution worth around one billion US dollars. This sector also exports to small and medium Textile Units in Bangladesh, Iran, Sri Lanka, etc. The Textile Engineering Sector is throttled through taxes on raw material, import of components, electronic and electrical parts. Competition The present Textile Engineering Industry is up against competition from smuggled, under invoiced, and mis-declared components, parts and accessories. For example, in case of second hand machinery, there is little or no check and the competition mainly rests on lower price. Machines smuggled especially from China, India, Taiwan are not better in quality but are selling cheaper. A bold initiative is needed which can boost the production as capacity and markets are there, only change in environment is need. Finishing look and control components  The products manufactured locally, when displayed against foreign goods - offer a poor look – primarily because of the unsightly finishing of welding seams, electroplating, painting and other surface treatments. In addition, the adoption of wrong design parameters, or the attempt to reduce the cost of production, lead to the incorporation of under-sized electrical motors and electric / electronic control panels. Quality control  There are very few units which have their own material testing facilities, or have an access to any such service from out side. Although reverse engineering is practiced, yet this copying is done without adequate material testing. This results in poor quality or in many cases in an undue over - engineering. A great stress on quality control is being laid by all the major importing countries, especially in the wake of ISO 9000 series. There is, therefore, a need of assisting the local textile engineering the relevant institutions, such as PSI, NPC, CTL, etc. Employment opportunities  Keeping in view the linkage of the Engineering Sector to other sectors of economy, it can be safely assumed that every one person employed in Engineering will add at least 2 more persons in the over all economy. There is ample scope for qualified engineers in mechanical, electric and electronics disciplines to boost this sector. Need for training institutions Diploma Level Courses on the pattern of Pak-Swiss Training Centre in Karachi should also be opened in the Textile Institutions in Faisalabad and Karachi and more such courses should be introduced in the Polytechnics in areas like Multan, Hyderabad, Lahore and Gujranwala. Exhibitions Most of these small workshops are shy or afraid of getting registered or displaying their products, mainly from the fear of the revenue collection, labor controlling and other government regulating agencies. This fear keeps them away from the mainstream Industry. This also leads to the lack of interaction among the small scale, medium scale and higher level industry for a purposeful vendor development. National Exhibitions held annually can be very helpful in bringing out the skills, the range of products and opportunities of group collaboration. It will help the planners and large scale engineering industry in defining the way for developing skills in order to make this sector strong and viable. This will culminate a Vendors List which can be recommended to foreign suppliers interested in coming to this market and starting assembling / manufacturing on large scale. The interaction between the foreign textile manufacturing industry could also be enhanced by facilitating the indigenous Textile Engineering Industry to participate in the specialized Exhibitions and fairs being held in those countries. Future opportunities  Our main competitors in primary textile products with the advantage of large engineering sector in this region are China and India. The only country in this region without strong engineering base is Pakistan and our dependence upon outside Engineering Industry keeps our cost of production higher with low engineering skills. Looking into the future a strong competition from China and India for this market requirements can be used to involve them to start assembly plants under their guidance and cooperation. Some progress in the direction has led to the development of a Task Force in the Ministry of Industries and Textile Engineering is growingly lucrative for investors, local and foreigners. E-commerce Gateway MoU with Chinese Co. The E-commerce Gateway has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Chinese company Global Enterprise Consulting to launch a business a match making' service in Pakistan and China. According to E-commerce Gateway Pakistan. "This service includes seeking of agents, distributors, buyers, suppliers or joint venture partners in Pakistan or Middle east for Chinese companies that intend to do business in these markets". The service will include all kinds of facilitation required to help increase the Chinese exports to the Middle East and South Asia.                                A Study of Technical Textiles - Scope and Classifications                             Textile that is primarily used for its performance or functional properties and not for its appearance or aesthetics is known as technical textile. The industrial fabrics that are used for various industrial applications are also classified as technical textiles. As such, technical textiles are the high performance fabrics that are basically used for non-consumer applications. Some textile academicians also include finished products such as ropes or tarpaulins, and parts of other products, such as tyre cord for tyres or coverstock for diapers, in the definition of technical textile.                                                                                                                                                                                           Scope of Technical Textile

An exceptional feature of technical textiles is the use of innumerable varieties of raw materials, processes, products and applications for their production. Some of the materials used for making technical textile are listed below.

• Minerals, like asbestos and glass.
• Synthetic polymers, like PES, PA, PAN, PP etc.
• Regenerated fibers like rayon fiber and acetate fiber.

Natural fibers like cotton fiber, jute fiber, wool fiber etc

Not only a great variety of raw materials but a multitude of processes are also employed for manufacturing technical textiles that include basic processes like weaving and knitting and much advanced processes like stitch bonding, chemical, thermal bonding to needle punching and many more. All these processes result into various products likefibers, yarns, and threads that are further used for making the finished technical textile. Not only this, many processes also lead to the manufacture of end products like ropes, cords, bags, belts etc. The figure above goes to explain the complexity of the technical textile process chain.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Technical Textiles Classification
According to the end use, technical textiles can be divided into different categories. 

Agrotech:                                                                                                   These are the Agro-textiles, also known as Agrotex, that are used in agricultural applications related to growing and harvesting of crops and animals. Not only crop production, they are also used in forestry, horticulture, as well as animal and poultry rearing including animal clothing. Agro-textiles have to be strong, elongated, stiff, bio-degradable, resistant to sunlight and toxic environment. .  

                                                                                                        Buildtech:                                                                                                  These are the Construction Textiles, also known as Buildtex, used in construction and architectural applications, such as for concrete reinforcement, facade foundation, interior construction, insulation, air conditioning, noise prevention, visual protection, protection against sun light, building safety etc. The field of textile architecture is also expanding as textile membranes are increasingly being used for roof construction. Such fabrics as PVC coated high tenacity PES, teflon coated glass fiber fabrics or silicone coated PES are used extensively in football stadia, airports and hotels.

 

Clothtech:                                                                                                   These are the Clothing Textiles, also known as Clothtex, including all those textile products that represent functional, most often hidden components, of clothing and footwear such as interlinings, sewing thread, insulating fibrefill and waddings. They are the 'high performance' garment fabrics whose demand is increasingly rising with the time.                                                                                                             

.                                                                                                                                    Geotech:                                                                                                    These are the Geotextiles, also known as Geotex, which are woven, nonwoven and knit fabric used for many functions such as support, drainage and separation at or below ground level. Their application areas include civil and coastal engineering, earth and road construction, dam engineering, soil sealing and in drainage systems. Geotech have good strength, durability, low moisture absorption and thickness. Synthetic fibers such as glass fiber, polypropylene and acrylic fibers are used to prevent cracking of the concrete, plastic and other building materials.

Hometech:                                                                                        These are the Domestic Textiles, also known as Hometex, used in making of many home furnishing fabricsincluding carpet backings, curtains, wall coverings, etc. They are mostly fire retardant fabrics whose properties are derived either by using fire retardant fibers such as modacrylic fiber or by coating the fabrics with fire retardant additives such as bromide of phosphorus compounds

                                                                                                            Indutech:                                                                                             These are the Industrial Textiles, also known as Indutex, used in different ways by many industries for activities such as separating and purifying industrial products, cleaning gases and effluents, transporting materials between processes and acting as substrates for abrasive sheets and other coated products. They range from lightweight nonwoven filters, knitted nets and brushes to heavyweight coated conveyor belts. 

Medtech:                                                                                                 These are the Medical Textiles, also known as Medtex. They include all the medical fabrics that are used in health and hygiene applications in both consumer and medical markets. They are generally used in bandages and sutures that are used for stitching the wounds. Sutures and wound dressing uses fibers like silk fibers and other synthetic fibers. Hollow synthetic fibers are used with nano particles (very small particles) for delivery of drugs to any specific part of the body. Cotton, silk, polyester, polyamide fabrics are also used in medical applications.

                                                                                                                                                                                Mobiltech:                                                                                              These textiles, also known as Mobiltex, are used in transport industry, such as in construction of automobiles, railways, ships etc. Truck covers and restraints are significant textile end-uses in the transportation sector. They can range from simple ropes and tarpaulins to highly engineered flexible curtain systems and webbing tie-downs. Other examples include seat covers, seat belts, non-wovens for cabin air filtration, airbags, parachutes, inflatable boats, air balloons am

Oekotech:                                                                                                 These are the Eco-friendly Textiles, also known as Oekotex or Ecotex. They are mostly used in environmental protection applications - floor sealing, erosion protection, air cleaning, prevention of water pollution, water cleaning, waste treatment/recycling, depositing area construction, product extraction, domestic water sewerage plants. They are even gaining unimaginable popularity in other sectors of textile industry. Clothing, home furnishings,fashion accessories etc. all now come in eco-friendly versions made of oekotech.                                                                                                                                                                        Packtech:                                                                                                  These are the Packaging Textiles, also known as Packtex. Textiles have been used for packaging since ages. It ranges from heavyweight woven fabrics used for bags, packaging sacks, Flexible Intermediate Bulk Carriers (FIBCs) and wrappings for textile bales and carpets to the lightweight nonwovens used as durable papers, tea bags and other food and industrial product wrappings..                                                                                                                                                     Protech:                                                                                       These are the Protective Textiles, also known as Protex, that are used in the manufacturing of protective clothing of different types. Protection against heat and radiation for fire fighter clothing, against molten metals for welders, for bullet proof jackets or for chemical protective clothing- all depend on the use of protech. The protective textiles are made with the help of specialty fibers such as aramid fiber used in making of bullet proof jackets, glass fibers used in fire proof jackets etc. Sometimes the protective textile is also coated with special chemicals, for example, when used in manufacturing astronauts suits.

Sporttech:                                                                                            These are the Sports Textiles, also known as Sporttex, used mainly for making sports wear including sports shoes and other sports accessories. Increasing interest in active sports and outdoor leisure activities such as flying and sailing sports, climbing, cycling, etc. has led to immense growth in the consumption of textile materials in manufacturing sporting and related goods and equipment. Synthetic fibers and coatings have largely replaced traditional cotton fabrics and other natural fibers in the making of spottech.

                                                                                                                                 

CONCLUSION:                                                                                       Pakistan’s textile industry is going through one of the toughest periods in decades. The global recession which has hit the global textile really hard is not the only cause for concern. Serious internal issues such as the hike in electricity tariff, the increase in interest rate, energy crisis, devaluation of Pakistani rupee, increasing cost of inputs, political instability, removal of subsidy & internal dispute. also effected Pakistan’s textile industry very badly. The high cost of production resulting from an instant rise in the energy costs has been the primary cause of concern for the industry. Depreciation of Pakistani rupee during last year which has significantly raised the cost of imported inputs. Furthermore, double digit inflation and high cost of financing has seriously affected the growth in the textile industry. All factor increase the cost of production which decreases the exports consequently increasing unemployment level. Pakistan’s textile industry is lacking in research & development (R & D).The production capability is very low due to obsolete machinery & technology.  Given the fact that this industry still provides the major share of exports and employment opportunities, there is more than a greater need for steps in right direction to revive it. In the past, policy making process neglected the importance of value addition in acquiring greater magnitude of exports and foreign exchange. Industry output is dominated by low-value added products, implying thin margins and low differentiation within product catogories. Moreover, there is need to attend towards quality control as our yarn and apparel products from finer counts are highly vulnerable to international competition. 

 Through review of the sector suggests that though this sector suffers a number of weaknesses, it commands a few strengths and hence opens avenues for opportunities. Following is presented as analysis of the textile sector of Pakistan. 

Strengths

 Self reliance    Manufacturing flexibility  Abundance  of  raw  material production    Design expertise    Availability of cheap labour    Growing  economy  and domestic market    Progressive reforms   

Weakness                                                                                                 Highly fragmented sector  High dependence on cotton    Lower productivity    Declining mill segment    Technological obsolescence    Non‐participants  in  trade agreements    

Opportunities                                                                                          End of quota regime    Shift  in  domestic  market  to branded readymade garments   Increased disposable income    Emerging  mall  culture  and retail expansion   

THREATS                                                                                                Stiff  competition  from developing  countries; especially China and India.  Pricing pressure     Locational disadvantage    International  labour  and environmental laws.   

Our textile sector needs to capitalize on the new emerging opportunities by adhering to global best practices, adapting rapidly changing technologies, better supply chain management while trying to reach global value chains.