Govt bullish over exports from developmental sector
27 Mar '08
2 min read
Although Pakistan is stressed over disappointing performance made by the textile sector, exports of developmental sectors like chemical, furniture and gems and jewelry have recorded a considerable growth of more than 47 percent during July-February of 2007-08 compared to the corresponding period last year.
This growth is a positive signal for the country since these sectors also form a significant part of the Government's strategy to boost exports.
Pakistan exported goods worth US $1.184 billion from the developmental sectors in the first eight months of the ongoing fiscal year compared to $801,696 million of the previous year.
Gems export stood at $6,023 million against $3,765 million in 2006-07, jewelry at $121,077 million against $21,815 million and furniture at $7,247 million over $7,207 million.
Experts believe that growth in these export products was a significant development since it will help balance the losses incurred by declining export of textile sector. This in turn was a consequence of widening trade gap caused by increasing import bill.
Moreover, growth in other sectors will also reduce economy's dependence only on the textile industry which is presently passing through a disturbed phase. In fact, Pakistan can further boost exports from these segments since free trade agreement with China throws open wide and lucrative potential markets.
Government of Pakistan has set a target of $1.555 billion for the whole year and looking at the current export performance, achieving this margin will not be a difficult task.