The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has organised KCCI Export Trophy Awards for Karachi based exporters during the current fiscal year with a vision to pay glowing tribute and recognise the untiring efforts being made by the local exporters, who are promoting 'Made in Pakistan' logo and earning the foreign exchange for the country.
The tireless efforts being made by these exporters have ensured that Pakistan's economy stays afloat in all circumstances as the overall business climate is not at par as compared to Pakistan's competitors in this region yet our exporters are trying their best to maintain and further improve their share in the international markets.
The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry has designed its Exports Awards for Karachi based exporters in an alluring manner, while classifying the awards in diversified categories in respect to an array of export oriented products of Pakistan. KCCI has been organising Export Trophy Awards since many years to pay glowing tribute to exporters for their unmatchable contribution in earning foreign exchange and to recognise their services which led to ensuring that Pakistan's economy stays afloat. It is very heartening to note that the depressed economy has finally started to recover soon after the democratically elected PML-N government took over the regime and announced to give top priority to economic revival and energy crisis.
KCCI Export Trophy Awards are being conferred in seven different categories namely 1.) Businessmen of the Year Award; 2.) Best Export Performance Award; 3.) Special Merit Export Award; 4.)Merit Export Award; 5.)Non-traditional/ value-added New Product Award; 6.) Best Lady Exporter Award; and 7.) Special Award for Small & Medium Enterprise (SME).
Karachi city, being the financial hub of Pakistan and a major contributor to the national exchequer, is undoubtedly the paradise for exporters as two major ports of the country, the Karachi Port Trust and Port Qasim Authority equipped with Pakistan International Container Terminal and Qasim International Container Terminal, are located in the metropolitan city of Karachi. Majority of the offices of various shipping companies along with the offices of freight forwarders and shipping agents are headquartered in this important city.
Despite energy crisis and security issues, Pakistan's export have continued to perform well owing to the business community's will to keep on enhancing exports by exploring untapped markets, besides enhancing trade ties in regional markets including SAARC, ASEAN, Central Asian Republics, China, Iran, India, Middle East and African countries.
According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan's trade deficit has shrunk by 10.76 percent to $5.8 billion in the first four months (July to October) period of current fiscal year 2013-14 (FY14) as compared to $6.5 billion in same period last fiscal year. Meanwhile, exports from the country gained sufficient pace in the period under review to $8.6 billion, registering 5.11 percent increase over exports worth $8.2 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal year.
The European Union (EU) granted duty-free access to Pakistani made-ups under the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) Plus status from January 1, 2014. Industry analysts believe that the GSP Plus status will help reduce trade deficit of Pakistan by duty free or preferential duty-rate access on 3,500 products to EU markets where currently Pakistan textile exports to the EU draw an 11 percent duty.
The new trade concessions are likely to bode well for the Pakistan textile chain and should augment export revenues where the EU is one of Pakistan's major trading partners. With the approval of GSP Plus status, Pakistan's export revenues are likely to be enhanced by $500 million to $1 billion annually, as the industry will look to maximise capacity utilisation.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan exported textiles and garments worth US $4.691 billion during the first four months of the ongoing fiscal year 2013-14 that started on July 1, 2013, showing a rise of 7.55 percent over exports of US $4.361 billion made during the corresponding period of last year.
From January to October 2013, Pakistan's raw cotton exports surged by 43.27 percent year-on-year to US $81.556 million, while its bed wear exports grew by 21.08 percent year-on-year to US $727.306 million. However, major earnings for Pakistan were from cotton fabric, which fetched US $946.601 million growing at 5.2 percent year-on-year, followed by knitwear, which earned US $763.865 million rising at 1.51 percent year-on-year, and cotton yarn, which brought US $758.363 million in foreign exchange showing a rise of 6.39 percent year-on-year.During the four-month period, Pakistan's readymade garment exports increased by 7.96 percent year-on-year to US $620.763 million. The textile exports as a whole increased by mere 0.40 percent year-on-year in October 2013 to US $1.114 billion, with a major dip of 50.35 percent year-on-year seen in export of cotton.
Furthermore, the export of non-textile products grew marginally by 2.29 per cent in the first four months (July-October) of this fiscal year from a year ago. In absolute terms, the export of non-textile products reached $3.885 billion in July-October 2013 compared with $3.798billion in the corresponding period of last year. The increase was mainly driven by surge in export of petroleum products, sports goods, leather products and molasses.
Although Pakistan's exports have been performing well for many decades but the experts from business community strongly believe that these exports were still at the lower side and they can be taken to new heights if government focuses more on improving the infrastructure along with Pakistan's foreign trade with various countries. Moreover, Pakistan's exports remain confined to traditional markets with limited exportable items, of which the textile exports remain outstanding. There is a need to not only diversify these exports but also explore new markets as remaining confined to the traditional markets and products will keep Pakistan's exports limited and we, despite having the capability to earn billions of dollars by diversifying and enhancing our exports, will not be able to score much. On the other hand, the decision makers in Islamabad must also stop depending on aid and should devise a clear strategy focusing on ways and means to enhance trade. In this regard, all hurdles in way of enhancing trade must be removed by effectively dealing with corruption at all departments, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to industrialists and availability of essential infrastructure along with safe and secure business climate.
Source:- brecorder.com
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