Role of Textile Industry in Pakistani Economy

Textile is a term that comes from “texture” which means “to weave”. The textile industries have a special importance in the national economy of developing countries. By keeping the creative activities of the manufacturing process in their own terms, the developing countries in Europe have restricted their textile industries and are also transferring their production facilities to other less developed countries.

Basically, textile products are the requirement of human beings and have a great importance in economic and social terms of any developing country. In short term, it provides incomes, jobs, especially for women and foreign currency recipients. While in long term, it provides the opportunity of sustained economic development in those countries with appropriate policies.

The textile industry is one of the largest, oldest, and most global industries in the world. It has effects on government policies as well as on the investors and institutions in developing countries that grow on this investment. It has a major participation in employments and exports of a country.

Economic Aspects

The textile industries are very important in terms of trade and employment for a lot of countries. It has provided some significant economic changes in several countries and is also providing the opportunities for export diversification and expansion of manufactured exports for low-income countries. So that they can make full use of their labor cost advantages and fill the emerging niches and meet buyer’s demands.

• The textile industries have major effect on the economic development of any country.
• The textile industries are a major source in contributing to money or incomes for selected countries.
• The contribution of textile production in GDP is different in different countries. It is up to 32% in Sri Lanka, 40% in Cambodia and 8.5% in Pakistan.
• The textile industries are a dominant sources of export.They are also a source of foreign exchange in several countries.
• Developing and low-income countries such as Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka depend on Textile exports for more than 50% of total manufacturing export.
• Textile has also a significant effect on employment. Employment in textile production for less developed and low-income countries share a total of 35% in selected low-income countries, 75% in Bangladesh and 90% in other selected LDCs.

Effects of Textile Industry on Pakistan’s Economy

Pakistan’s economy relies heavily on its cotton and textile sector. The cotton processing and textile industries make up half of the country’s manufacturing base. Cotton is Pakistan’s principle industrial crop that is supplying crucial income to rural households.

The Pakistani textile manufacturers are very optimistic in nature and want to increase the international share, and they have the target to increase the exports around 10$ billion US dollars.

The Pakistani textile manufacturers claim that the textile products such as yarn, fabrics, cloth and bed linen are the most competitive items in the world, the quality of these products are very fine to compare with any other developed country. These items have a major share in our overall textile exports.

They claim that the leading textile producers and the exporters of the world like China, Germany, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka import these products from Pakistan and convert them into high fashion items and export these to the world. Pakistan has a major role in supplying raw materials to these countries.

There is a huge investment in Pakistan’s textile industry; this investment helped to develop the textile sector. The investment in the textile sector is divided into different segments of the industry. Sufficient percentage of the workforce of Pakistan is employed in the textile and clothing industries.

The spinning has made 46% of the total investment; the weaving sector has made 24%. Textile processing has made 12%, made-up 8%, knitwear and garments 5% and 5% invest in the synthetic textile sector.

Conclusion

The need is to make beneficial changes for the development. The people should be more educated about this industry and its effects on other industries. There should be awareness about the drastic changes it can make in the economy. In this way, people will be more involved in the textile production.

Energy cost is the main and major issue in developing countries like Pakistan. They should start researching on developing a reliable source of energy. Only then the textile industry would be able to provide benefits like other developed countries.