By Raza Khan ISLAMABAD, Feb. 04 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan’s footwear manufacturers are expecting 25% increase in exports during the current fiscal year (2021-22) as compared with the last year (2020-21). “Our estimate of exports for the current fiscal year is $155 million to $160 million with a year-on-year increase of 20% to 25%,” Ahmed Fawad Farooq, Secretary General of Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers Association (PFMA), told INP-WealthPK. According to the Ministry of Commerce, the country’s total exports of footwear in the last fiscal year were $131.89 million with an increase of 4.72% against the preceding year. Farooq said a gradual increase in footwear export was observed in recent years, which was an encouraging outcome for the exporters and the country. “We are expecting substantial growth in exports during the current fiscal year, as restrictions imposed after Covid-19 have been eased across the globe,” he said. The PFMA Secretary General said the footwear industry in Pakistan had the capacity to produce 400 million pairs per annum. “At least 70 footwear manufacturing companies in Pakistan are getting export orders,” Mr Farooq said, adding that the country’s major export item was leather-made footwear. “Leather-made footwear is a speciality of Pakistan,” he said, adding that canvas footwear is also being exported, but in less quantity. Farooq said the government had reduced duties on importing raw material, which cut the cost of production and resulted in growth of exports. However, he called upon the government to further decrease the price of electricity for the footwear industry to make it more competitive regionally. He suggested that the government departments relevant to the footwear manufacturing industry should be efficient and more cooperative while solving the problems faced by the businesspersons. In a recent interview, Zahid Hussain, Chairman of PFMA, said Pakistan’s footwear industry was in a position to increase exports to $1 billion by 2027. According to PFMA, the bulk of the exports, about 80 percent, are leather shoes in the medium price range of $9-12 which are very competitive in the international market. Pakistan exports footwear to more than 60 countries. Its major exports are to UK, France, Netherlands and Germany in Europe and Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Yemen in the Middle East. According to the Pakistan Business Council, Pakistan is the seventh-largest producer of footwear, manufacturing more than 2% of all footwear produced worldwide. It is also the seventh-largest consumer of footwear, accounting for 2.2% of global consumption. In 2010, Pakistan exported $92.6 million worth of footwear, whereas it exported $135.3 million worth of footwear in 2019, with a growth of 45.9 percent. According to Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan’s footwear exports increased by 12.37% during first six months (July-December) of 2021-22 compared with the same period of last fiscal year. Footwear exports recorded $72.79 million during July-December 2021-22 against $64.78 million in the corresponding months of last fiscal year. In terms of quantity, the footwear exports slightly grew by 1.81% during the period under review. Exports rose to 8,267 pairs during the first six months of 2021-22 from 8,120 pairs in July-December last fiscal year. Leather-made footwears remained dominant with the export of $58.90 million in July-December against $54.94 million during the corresponding period of last fiscal year, registering a growth of 7.20%. Exports of footwear other than leather and canvas grew by 41.37% and rose to $13.61 million in July-December 2021-22 from $9.63 million during the corresponding months of last year.