Subsidize basic inputs to reach $45 billion in exports – Gigi Inds

15 May '09

2 min read

The Pakistan textile industry was and is still going through one of the toughest periods of its century's old existence. As if the energy shortages and labour problems were not enough in 2008, the economic turmoil came along to give more troubles.

But the spirit of the 'Never say die' attitude of the Pakistani textile industry has stood it in good stead and the sector has delivered exemplary results by garnering exceptional profit growth in the first half of the current fiscal. (2008-09).

To learn more about the current situation in the Pakistani textile sector, Fibre2fashion spoke to Mr. Idrees Gigi, Director of Gigi Industries Pvt. Ltd. Gigi Industries, which has completed 60 years of its existence is a leading manufacturer of a wide varieties of apparel accessories like elastics, woven labels, laces, tapes, cords, etc.

We began by asking him as to what according to him kept the textile sector going even despite so many problems, to which he said, “Infact textile sector is facing countless problems these days including high cost of production, energy shortage, unavailability of skilled labor, financial crunch and moreover inconsistent law & order situation”.

He added by saying, “Still we see a lot of potential in the textile sector. We believe hard work of the stake holders, continuous innovation, process improvements and quality control are the main driving forces of the textile sector”.

We then asked him to reveal the reasons as to how the industry tackled the shortages of energy shortages and still managed to deliver good results, “Although the concerned authorities failed to provide energy consistently to the sector, therefore industries were forced to self generate energy in order to fulfill there energy requirement. Government had also directed the authorities to at least provide energy to the textile sector but no such measure was taken”, he said angrily.

We ended the conversation by asking about his expectations from the government to achieve target of US $45 billion in exports, to which he optimistically said “We believe Pakistan's textile sector has potential to achieve the target of US $45 billion if adequate support is extended by the Government. Basic input should be subsided in order to achieve the targets”.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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