Webinar on ”Importance of Regionally Competitive Energy Tariffs for the Textile Sector of Pakistan”

Moderator: Dr Nadeem ul Haque
Chair: Abdul Razak Daood, Adviser for Commerce and Investment, Ministry of Commerce, Government of Pakistan
Presenter: 
Ahmed Waqar Qasim, Research Economist, PIDE
Saddam Hussain, Research Economist, PIDE

Discussant: 
Gohar Ejaz, Patron-in-Chief, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association
Khadija Malik Bari Assistant Professor, Institute of Business Administration, Islamabad
Aqdas Afzal, Program Director, Social Development & Policy Program, Habib University.

 

The economic significance of the textile sector in Pakistan is undeniable. The sector contributes around 60% of the export earnings and provides employment opportunities for around 40% of the total labor force. In the textile sector, energy cost is the leading component in terms of conversion cost. Among all the factors that make the textile sector of Pakistan regionally un-competitive, energy tariff is at the core. The recent outshining performance of the textile sector can partially be attributed to the regionally competitive energy tariff (RCET) policy that the government has adopted, since late 2018. The current webinar entails to launch a report prepared by PIDE along with the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) aims to evaluate how the regionally competitive energy Tariff policy is contributing towards getting the textile sector regionally competitive.