Pakistan lags behind competitors in reliability, political stability and lack of diversity, despite low prices in most apparel product categories says a World Bank (WB) report. The report titled, ‘Apparel employment, trade, and economic development in South Asia,’ states many buyers avoid Pakistan because of the security situation and hence entrepreneurs have to travel to Dubai to meet them, which complicates sourcing.

The report observed that Pakistan is cost competitive in most product categories, but it is not a top performer in any of the export categories. One major problem is a lack of product diversity, with the country almost entirely dependent on cotton products and trouser exports. Other problems are reliability, compliance, and political stability and safety, especially Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Pakistan also has a large labor pool, but productivity is hurt by the limited availability of good sector-specific training institutes and gaps in technical, design, and middle management skills.

The report maintains that Pakistan has a fast-growing apparel sector that accounts for 19 per cent of its exports, and firms are competitive with global exporters in terms of prices. The country ranks fourth in terms of value ($4.2 billion) with the same global market share (1.2 per cent) as Sri Lanka.