Interview with Ms. Madiha Ali / Director of Textile and Leather / Trade Development Authority of Pakistan
Pakistan is a developing country and textile industry is one of the major export-oriented industries of Pakistan contributing 62% to export revenue and 40% towards employment.
Based on the “Strategic Trade Policy Framework of the Ministry of Commerce, TDAP’s vision is to promote the Pakistani textile & leather sector globally, through focus on ensuring quality at competitive prices, capacity development of SMEs and support in the supply chain to meet international demand. For market and product development, TDAP facilitates the promotion of the textile sector in major international exhibitions around the world.
What is the vision, mission and goals of TDAP for Pakistan textile industry?
The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) develop and promote export holistically, through focus, synergy, and with collective wisdom and counsel of its stakeholders. It also help improve market access through advising the Government on matters of trade diplomacy and promoting the “business” image of Pakistan in the key export markets for Pakistani products and services, the world over. TDAP’s mission is to achieve a quantum leap in Pak export.
Mission
• To provide an opportunity to all leading companies of the textile and leather industries to establish their brands and create market presence by showcasing their products.
• To be the bridge between producers and consumers and help connect at a unified platform and exchange their experiences, and ideas, not to mention discuss business and develop trade ties.
• Provide advocacy and guidance on economic, social and legal conditions in order to attract the international stakeholders associated with the textile sector.
• To facilitate negotiations between the national and international business community.
Goals
1. To increase the exports of textile and leather goods.
2. To enhance the production of value-added products in the sectors.
3. To encourage innovation and creativity in the production of textile and leather products.
4. To become a medium through which, multiple stakeholders of the supply chain can communicate with each other.
5. To highlight supply chain gaps, that can be addressed through policy interventions, if required.
How do you evaluate 4th edition of TEXPO exhibition to be held at Expo centre of Karachi? What is your expectation for visitors and exhibitors?
TEXPO provides an excellent opportunity for national and international manufacturers and sourcing agents to enhance their business at a common platform.
TEXPO 2023 has progressed to establish an international pavilion and aims to evolve into a truly international exhibition with exhibitors and sourcing personnel arriving from all corners of the world for meeting their business needs.
With Pakistan’s global recognition as a champion of the climate change initiative and a source of premium quality products in the textile sector, Texpo 2023 visitors will be presented with sustainable solutions for their everyday needs.
What is the exhibitor and visitor profile for TEXPO 2023?
The textile industry from all across Pakistan will participate in Texpo 2023, especially the exhibitors of value-added sectors like readymade garments, towels, bed linen, hosiery, made-ups, carpets, sportswear, technical textiles, high-end fashion garments, and leather-related products etc.
Some of the major exhibitors working on special textiles, regenerated fabric and yarn and green textiles from Pakistan will also showcase their products. These companies, among many others from Pakistan, are recognized internationally for the quality of their products, compliance with environmental standards, and pricing. Apart from these, Pakistan is home to a growing number of SMEs and women entrepreneurs producing customized and innovative articles of textile and leather who will also be taking part in the event.
Texpo 2023 hopes to attract visitors from the four corners of the world looking for cost-effective and eco-friendly sustainable sourcing solutions to meet their market demand for textiles. We encourage the textile community from manufacturers, importers, buying agents, and designers etc. to look beyond the familiar and explore the potential of the Pakistani textile and leather industry which has much to offer to the unexpected visitor half a world away.
If you have the report of the last TEXPO post-event please share its highlights with Kohan textile journal’s readers.
After the success of 1st edition of Texpo 2016 (7th to 10th of April, 2016) at Karachi Expo Centre (KEC), TDAP organized the 2nd edition of Texpo 2019 (11th to 14th of April, 2019) in three (03) halls of Expo Centre Lahore (ECL) with the theme of “Sharing a Common Thread” to emphasize that textile sector binds all of local and international community together.
Texpo 2019 was attended by record levels of exhibitors and an impressive range of innovative products from cotton to couture. The event concept met with broad approval from both local and international attendees. 234 exhibiting companies, 368 foreign delegates from 50-plus countries met face-to-face at Texpo 2019.
Due to covid Texpo 2021 (February 1-5th May) was organized virtually and for the first time, 50 exhibitors from the textile sector participated virtually. 1588 visitors logged on to the event and 5 sideline webinars were organized.
The Fourth edition of Texpo (26-28th of May 2023) is all set to be held at Karachi Expo Center with the tagline of “weaving the way to sustainability”.
Please explain TDAP’s other textile events during 2023.
TDAP is the premier trade support organization of the government of Pakistan. The event calendar of TDAP -Textile and Leather Division is shared on the TDAP website and caters to supporting the participation of exporters from Pakistan in major international textile and leather exhibitions across the globe. In addition to this TDAP also organizes single-country exhibitions and trade delegations to major trading partners.
The notable Textile & Leather event where TDAP regularly organize participation even during 2022-23 are; Heimtextil- Frankfurt, Texworld- Paris, Fashion world-Tokyo, Sourcing at Magic- Las Vegas, Texworld – New York, Expo Protection-Paris, Intertextile – Shangahi, Intermote-German, Lineapelle Fair, Italy, APLF-Hong Kong, Expo Riva-Italy, etc. and organizes Texpo 2023, with international pavilion, the largest textile exhibition in Pakistan which is attended by a large number of people with high participation of foreign visitors too.
Besides, international exhibitions a series of product Seminars and webinars on emerging topics of the textile and leather industry such as sustainability, certifications in the textile industry, sustainable development goals, GSP+ scheme etc and B2B meet up are frequently organized for the stakeholders of the textile industry from Pakistan.
How do you evaluate Pakistan’s textile industry in general? What are the pros and cons, if you have export and import numbers, please add.
The textile industry of Pakistan has shown great perseverance in difficult times and has grew 26% FY 2022. The textile sector contributes 61% to the total export revenue of Pakistan. However, the textile industry is mostly concentrated on textile fabric, cotton, and semi-finished articles. Yet there is untapped potential and opportunity for international clients to invest in the sector and make use of Pakistan’s GSP+ status and abundant low cost of labour for meeting their product demands.
Pakistan is the 8th largest exporter of textile products in Asia. It is the 4th largest producer and 3 rd largest consumer of cotton. It comprises 46% of the total manufacturing sector and provides employment to 40% of the total labour force. The major exports of the sectors include knitwear, readymade garments, fabrics, weaved apparel, twisting, and the processing sector.
Despite the global economic slowdown and declining consumer demand. In recent times the Pakistani Rupees (PKR) devaluation against the US dollar gave textile exporters a competitive advantage over its competitors in terms of pricing. However, in the long run, the devaluation became worse for exporters especially textile exporters because it raises input costs, making export less competitive.
One of the difficulties the sector faces is the shortage of high-quality raw materials. Moreover, cotton shortage remains the key concern for the country as the demand for the textile industry grows but cotton production has declined substantially over the last 10 decades, mainly due to fall in cultivation area followed by lower yield resulting from water shortage and inconsistent rainfall.
As you know MEA region is a growing market for textile products and new investments in textile sector, how do you evaluate the MEA region textile market?
It has been observed that the textile industry is growing rapidly with exports crossing $900 billion and imports crossing $700 billion recently. The major importing products include textile articles, articles of apparel and clothing accessories and knitted or crocheted fabrics.
MEA is an emerging market and Pakistan can tap into the consumer base of the market because Pakistan has a comparative advantage in the product lines already imported by the MEA region.
In the last 3 years, many of textile products including bedlinen, denim, towels and toilet linen, Men’s or boys’ ensembles of cotton, Plain woven fabrics of polyester staple fibers, leather products, and footwear have witnessed a very promising increase in terms of exports to the MEA region by Pakistan.
Hence, the MEA region has become of significant importance to Pakistan’s textile industry, and the mutual trade is expected to grow at a good pace in the upcoming years.
What is your plan to expand Pakistan’s textile export to the MEA region?
Through several initiatives, policies, and marketing efforts, Pakistan is now making efforts to expand its export markets in the MEA region. The textile sector, being the major industry in Pakistan, is at the forefront in this regard. A few international exhibitions of the Textile & Leather sector in the MEA region are part of our annual Business Plan 2022-23 like, Intersec-Dubai, Texstyle – Algeria and APLF-Dubai.
Several B2B meetings, informative webinars, and seminars are being conducted in order to promote Pakistan’s textile products to the region. The specific requirements of the market and the consumers in the MEA countries are being researched and studied at present to cater to their textile needs. As per Pakistan’s Look Arica initiative, efforts are being done to promote Pakistan’s products in the African region and to work on the issues in the trade between Pakistan and the region.
The 3rd Pakistan Africa Trade Development Conference & Single Country Exhibition was held on Nov 29 to December 1, 2022, in Johannesburg, South Africa where around 225 Pakistani companies and business delegates from different sectors, including the textile industry, participated.
TeXpo 2023 is one of the major initiatives by Pakistan to expand its textile products to the MEA region, as extensive promotional efforts are being done to invite business delegates from the MEA region to the event so that they can have direct observation and study of the whole textile industry of Pakistan under one roof.
