Well done to our government for chasing entrepreneurs out of the country. It is a disgrace that something as vital to the economy as sufficient electricity cannot be provided.
Pakistani entrepreneurs plan to relocate their textile manufacturing units to Bangladesh in a bid to reap advantages given to least developed countries (LDC) of duty-free markets in the European Union.
The manufacturers blame Pakistan for rising costs of production, power shortages, higher taxes and poor market access to developed countries, former textile minister Mushtaq Ali Cheema told Pakistan’s Daily Times newspaper.
Bangladesh offered lucrative incentives, including uninterrupted power supply and tax-free status for the first 10 years and tariff-free access to markets in the European Union.
In September, a Pakistan business delegation held parleys with Bangladesh trade bodies and expressed their eagerness to relocate their textile industries to Bangladesh.
The exporters and manufacturers are disappointed with the Pakistan government for its poor business vision, which left the Pakistan textile industry in tatters, said Cheema.
Cheema said the cost of textile production is very high in Pakistan, while labor costs in Bangladesh are cheaper and the workers are more efficient.
Already several Pakistani entrepreneurs have invested in composite textile units in Bangladesh. The entrepreneurs argue that several facilities give way to profit margins an average 30 percent higher for textile exporters than in Pakistan, Cheema added.
International buyers and retail giants are reluctant to place orders with exporters because of unpredictable breakdowns in the supply chain, said the official.
Another huge attraction in Bangladesh is the lack of tariffs in major markets such as the United States and the European Union. Classified as a “Least Developed Country,” Bangladesh has been given special tariff-free access to markets in developed countries as an indirect form of aid.
