Growing at a rate of approximately 19 per cent, Pakistan's clothing exports reached a record high of $6.2 billion in the first eight months of the current FY2024-25.

As per a report by Jam Kamal Khan, Federal Minister of Commerce; Shakeel Ahmed Mangnejo, Special Secretary of Commerce, and Mudassar Raza Siddiqi, Director General –Textiles,

During this period, Pakistan’s textile industry grew at a rate of 9.3 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year.

Once the third-largest cotton producer globally, Pakistan has since fallen to the sixth position, points out Director General of Textiles.

Comparing Pakistan to Brazil, Siddiqi highlighted, while both countries have similar crop acreage, Brazil's yield per hectare is three times higher than Pakistan's due to the adoption of high-tech seed varieties, precision agriculture, mechanized harvesting, rain-fed irrigation, and the use of renewable energy.

Disease-resistant and climate-resilient seed varieties, prohibition of uncertified seeds and chemicals in the local market, and the adoption of good agricultural practices will help revive local cotton production and increase farmers' profitability, emphasized Jam

During the meeting, Siddiqi presented a Short to Medium to Long Term Work Plan to the commerce minister to boost exports of Pakistan's textiles and apparel sector.

This plan includes interventions to reduce manufacturing costs, enhance economies of scale, conduct targeted marketing events, diversify into high-value-added finished products including technical textiles, expand into non-traditional markets, simplify non-tariff and technical trade barriers, gain access to potential markets, develop and implement a national action plan on sustainability and circularity, facilitate export-focused research and development projects at the firm level, align academic activities with industrial needs, and, most importantly, develop a national Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) development program.

Jam further noted, Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world with a complete textile and apparel value chain and the implementation of strategic interventions will help address key challenges and unlock the sector's full potential.

Textiles and apparel exports will increase through collaborative efforts and supportive policies, Jam affirmed.