Pakistan has the potential to increase its export revenues by $2 billion through the branding of its products for the international market, according to a press release from Pakistan Business Forum (PBS) received by WealthPk.

This observation was made by the president of Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) Mian M. Usman Zulfiqar on Monday, while speaking to a group of visiting business leaders. He said that the textile sector of Pakistan can attract more customers in the international market by branding its products, since branding adds “flavour” to the products. The adding of competitive traits like branding and flavouring will increase the export value of the country’s “readymade garments” manifold. 

He said that “the exporter of Pakistan has never paid much attention to competitive traits like branding. This lack of attention has led to a loss in market share for Pakistani exporters in the international market. The focus on establishing a brand name will help the exporters acquire more volumes of export.”

Referring to market research studies, he pointed out that “consumers are influenced 25% by price and packaging and 25% by communication and promotions, whereas the quality of a product, positioning, availability and origin each has a 12.5% impact on consumers.”

“The effects of branding on consumer decisions whether to buy a particular product are more influential than the quality of the product,” he continued.

He further said that since “the fashion and textile industry of Pakistan hold tremendous potential to capture the international market with their products, they can very well add revenues to the national exchequer through increased exports and the duties accruing to the state from them.”

“The avenues for fashion products in the international market have the potential to earn for Pakistan billions of dollars since fashion itself is a trillion-dollar industry. Pakistan can grab a significant share in the global fashion industry if it succeeds in attracting the attention of foreign buyers,” he said.

Stressing the role of government, he said that the “government should allocate space for five mega textile parks in the special economic zones being developed under CPEC. Including the textile sector in the economic plan of development under CPEC will enhance the competitive capacity of Pakistani textile exports.”

On the policy level, he suggested that the government make it compulsory for large manufacturers with more than 30,000 spindles to grow their own cotton in order to manufacture yarn.

“The country’s textile exports cannot be enhanced without increasing the area under cotton cultivation and enhancing the cotton yield,” he said.

Speaking of the growth in textile sector in 2021 he said that “due to the disruption caused by Covid-19 pandemic, the demand across the world was high for textile products. Stores were empty and as soon as supply chains were re-established, demand sky-rocketed. This allowed Pakistan’s textile sector to reach its full potential.”

“However, we haven’t devised a proper mechanism to continue that trend in the long run,” he added. “Thus, we are not able to continue that trend in the long-run and also losing potential buyers who could become our permanent clients,” he said.

Our textile sector “is also producing artificial silk, which resembles its natural counterpart but costs less to produce”, he said. There are 90,000 looms working on artificial silk across the country, he told the audience.

“The quality of fabric produced by Pakistan is better than many other countries,” he reiterated.

He concluded that lack of branding was limiting the revenues of the country. Pakistan could generate an additional $2 billion in exports solely by focusing on branding.

“European companies earn millions of dollars by branding merchandise mostly manufactured in South Asian countries,” he said.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk