If the recent reported claims of Central Chairman of Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) Shaikh Mohammad Shafiq are something to go by, Bangladesh is increasingly eating into Pakistan’s export share of readymade garments.
“We feel our share has been taken by Bangladesh. We need to fight for it and bring it to our advantage. Their exports are now increasing at US $ 3.5 billion per year and expected to hit US $ 50 billion by 2020, and whatever they have been giving in their budget estimate in last three years is coming true,” reportedly said Shafiq in a statement, adding that currently Bangladesh’s total export stands at US $ 33 billion, out of which textiles accounts for US $ 27.5 billion, including US $ 26.5 billion earned from readymade garments.
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According to the Central Chairman of PRGMEA, labour is one of the major cost components, which plays in favour of Bangladesh as the minimum wage in Bangladesh stands at around US $ 68 as compared to Pakistan’s US $ 125. Additionally the lower utilities cost in Bangladesh further benefits the garment manufacturers.
“It is now the need of the hour to develop a coherent plan by the Government that would allow some sort of exemption/concession for the garment sector considering how the growth rate of this industry is declining continuously,” Shafiq underlined about Pakistan’s garment sector, adding that measures such as release of ‘stuck up’ refund payments against Sales Tax, Duty Drawback and Drawback on Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL), lowered tariff on electricity, gas and water, and incentives on export could be of help to arrest this decline.
