KARACHI: With a view to capitalize on declining Chinese exports to US, particularly in textile and apparels, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) is all set to sign a trade economic cooperation agreement with the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce in September 2018, an official said.
A high profile FPCCI delegation comprising representatives of textile apparels, made-up textiles, clothing accessories, leather goods and other sector will leave for New York in the first week of September for the signing ceremony, which would be followed by business-to-business meetings.
According to official figures, textile and apparel exports of China to US are declining while exports of these goods to US by Vietnam, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are increasing. Pakistan’s textile articles exports to US surged 4.0 percent and apparels exports surged by 7.0 percent in May 2018.
“Export growth of the above mentioned countries appears to be at the expense of China where due to rising labor costs, production is being gradually shifted to capital intensive industries. Herein lies an opportunity for Pakistan to enhance its exports to the US by attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) from China in textile and apparel, and moving into the value added products of these sectors,” Pakistan Commercial Counselor in New York noted in its strategy report received at Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).
The US is one of the largest trading partners of Pakistan. The export base of Pakistan is, however, narrow with heavy reliance on textiles and apparels for export earnings while China, Mexico, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Bangladesh are the main trading competitors of Pakistan when it comes to export of goods to the US.
In terms of exports of textiles and textile articles including apparels to the US, Pakistan continued to remain at seventh position last fiscal having 2.57 percent share in US’s overall imports to these products. “Reliance on better product designing, specialization and quality improvement can bring increased revenues from the US market as Pakistan still has comparative advantage in these items in terms of raw materials and labor costs,” an official at TDAP said.
FPCCI had approached Greater New York Chamber of Commerce proposing a cooperation agreement to enhance trade ties with the US. Draft MoU was accordingly shared with the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce for approval so that the signing ceremony could be arranged on the sidelines of networking breakfast being hosted by the New York Chamber in May 2018 for the Board of Investment (BOI) led business delegation visiting the US.
However, due to late finalization of the business delegation’s visit to the US, the signing ceremony could not taken place at that time. The FPCCI has now approached the commercial counselor in New York for re-scheduling the signing ceremony in the first Week of September 2018.