Country’s exports cross $2 bn mark four months running

ISLAMABAD: The country's exports have crossed $2 billion mark four months running for the first time in the last eight years.

A consultative meeting was held by the Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razaq Dawood, via video link, to review the provisional (pre-PBS) trade data till the month of January 2021.

He was informed that exports in January 2021 have increased by 8% percent to USD2,135 million as compared to USD1,978 million in January 2020. He was informed that this is the first time in the last eight years that exports have crossed the $2 billion mark for four consecutive months.

He was briefed that in January 2021, an increasing trend has been witnessed in the export of value-added and non-traditional products. The exports of Jerseys & Cardigans increased by 72%, pharmaceuticals by 55%, T-shirts by 43%, plastics by 24%, women's garments by 21%, home textiles by 19%, textile made-up by 11%, men’s garments by 8% and rice by 7% as compared to January 2020.

He was also informed that a decreasing trend was noted in export of mostly non-value-added products. The exports of maize decreased by 82%, raw leather by 23%, cotton yarn by 11%, cotton fabric by 14% and meat by 5% as compared to January 2020.

The meeting was informed that geographically, in January 2021 exports increased to Canada (43%), Australia (42%), the United States (36%), South Africa (27%), China (21%), the United Kingdom (21%), Belgium (18%), and Saudi Arabia (14%). While there was decrease in exports to Jordan (-68%), Senegal (-59%), Italy (-24%), Turkey (-21%), Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates (-19% each).

The seven-months’ performance of exports was also discussed in the meeting. The adviser was informed that the provisional (pre-PBS) export data for the period July-January 2020-21 showed that the exports had increased by 5.5%, to USD14,245 million as compared to USD13,507 million during the same period last year.

During July-January 2020-21, the exports of value-added and non-traditional products increased especially for tents & canvas (49%), Jerseys & Cardigans (37%), pharmaceuticals (28%), cutlery (27%), socks & stockings (26%), women's garments (22%), home textiles (17%) and textile made-ups (9%) as compared to the same period last year.

He was informed that as compared to the same period in the previous year, during July-January 2020-21, the export decrease was observed in mostly non-value added products, such as cotton (-96%), maize (-49%), raw leather (-30%), cotton yarn (-24%) and cotton fabric (-9%).

Dawood was informed that on the basis of export growth, Pakistan’s top markets for 7-months’ period are Indonesia (43%), Australia (22%), the United States (21%), the United Kingdom (21%), Poland (14%), Germany (12%), the Netherlands (11%) and China (9%).

He was further informed that compared to the last year, the markets showing declining exports during July-January 2020-21 were Thailand (-43%), Malaysia (-24%), Sri Lanka (-23%), the United Arab Emirates (-21%), Bangladesh (-18%), Italy (-7%) and Spain (-5%).

Dawood advised the officials of the MOC that much more needs to be done. He paid rich tributes to Pakistan’s exporters for this performance during difficult times despite the Covid-19 pandemic and contraction in Pakistan’s major markets. He urged them to aggressively focus on capturing a larger share of international exports.