By Arsalan Ali ISLAMABAD, June 08, (INP WealthPK): The export of textile products from Pakistan increased by 28 percent and their volume reached $17.67 billion during the first 11 months of the current fiscal year as compared to $13.76 billion in the same period of the previous financial year. “On a year-on-year basis, the export of textiles increased by 59 percent, reaching $1.69 billion in May 2022 from $1.06 billion in May 2021,” Asad Naqvi, a senior research analyst at All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, told WealthPK. He said that the textile sector needs unwavering support to maintain economic growth in the country by upholding the ratio of exports. Uninterrupted provision of energy to the sector would have long-term benefits for the country as a whole. Asad Naqvi said that textile mills could not work to their full capacity owing to the shortage of electricity and gas, resulting in a monthly loss of $250 to $400 million in exports. Pakistan could not afford to have an inefficient export-oriented sector. He said that the supply of electricity and gas to the mills should be restored on a priority basis. The textile sector contributes significantly to total export earnings and employs approximately 40 percent of the labour force in the country. According to a report titled “Regionally competitiveness energy tariff and textile sector competitiveness” conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, the high charges of energy have made the textile sector regionally uncompetitive. “Energy cost is the leading component in terms of conversion cost,” it adds. The report says that a 10 percent increase in energy tariff causes 1.1 percent decrease in investment, forcing a firm to lay off 62 of its employees on average. It adds that a 10 percent increase in energy tariff will render 32,302 workers jobless at 521 textile units in the country. An average textile unit provides employment opportunities to around 2,303 people. A 10 percent increase in the energy tariff will force around 14 textile units to stop operations, according to the report. The report says that the textile sector is experiencing expansion and upgradation because of the Regional Competitive Tariff policy. The sector needs more financing and technological upgradation. “To optimise the full potential of the textile sector and retain as well as enhance the existing customer base, the consistent implementation of RCET policy is the need of the hour,” the report adds. Pakistan is the eighth largest exporter of textile products in Asia. It is the fourth largest producer and the third largest consumer of cotton. The textile sector forms 46 percent of the total industries in the country. The textile sector contributed 59 percent to the total exports from the country and fetched $4.8 billion from abroad in the third quarter of the current fiscal. The government approved the third ‘Textile and Apparel Policy’ on February 15, 2022, to keep intact the existing energy subsidies, tax rebates and credit programme till 2025, according to WealthPK.