Mayday call for textile sector

Pakistan’s economy pivots around two essentials, ie, textiles and energy because 60% of our exports constitute textiles, while 30% of imports comprise energy. This becomes more critical when various studies project the export potential at $50 billion per year by 2030, though they were worth only $16.5 billion in FY 2022-23 with the historical maximum reaching $22.1 billion in FY22. Some sources put this potential even at $100 billion. If realised, it can easily pull us out of the perennial malaise of the deficit in balance of payments, the primary cause of all of our economic woes. What further accentuates this inference is that the textile sector employs about 45% of the total labour force associated with the manufacturing sector. Also, the industry is heavily dependent on cotton, therefore, any disturbance in the cotton crop also affects the performance of the sector and the economy.