Mian Zahid Hussain, President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum & All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Chairman of the National Business Group Pakistan, Chairman of the Policy Advisory Board of FPCCI, and Former Provincial Minister of Information Technology, has expressed deep concern over the ongoing competitiveness emergency facing the country’s export-oriented textile sector. While acknowledging the positive trajectory of the domestic manufacturing base and the modernisation of financial markets, the former provincial minister warned that the backbone of Pakistan’s economy is under severe threat from exorbitant input costs, shifting regional trade alliances, and mounting geopolitical tensions.
Addressing the business community today, Mian Zahid Hussain noted that the national economy is currently navigating a highly volatile stabilisation-to-growth phase. He appreciated the robust performance of the Large-Scale Manufacturing sector, which recorded a remarkable 10.54 per cent year-on-year growth in January 2026, largely driven by a 67.3 per cent surge in automobile production and an 11.5 per cent increase in cement dispatches. He also commended the government for the historic job creation in the manufacturing sector in February and the successful transition of the Pakistan Stock Exchange to a T+1 settlement cycle, even as the KSE-100 index faces a corrective phase, down to 148,743 points due to the war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz crisis. Furthermore, he welcomed the operationalisation of the Export Development Fund (Amendment) Act 2026, which transferred control to a private-sector-led board, and the recent relaxation of land-route trade rules with Iran for essential food items and pharmaceuticals.
However, the seasoned business leader strongly cautioned that these domestic victories will be eclipsed if the government does not urgently address the red alert in the textile industry, which accounts for around sixty per cent of National exports. He pointed out that textile exports declined sharply by 7.22 per cent in February 2026, plummeting to 1.31 billion dollars and reversing earlier nominal gains. Value-added products, particularly knitwear, have suffered steep declines across traditional markets in the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States. He attributed this collapse directly to a fatal cost trap, citing exorbitant industrial energy tariffs of 11-13 cents per kilowatt-hour, nearly double the rates enjoyed by regional competitors like Vietnam and India.
Mian Zahid Hussain highlighted the impending catastrophe for Pakistan’s textile exports posed by the recent EU-India trade agreement, projecting a devastating potential export loss of 3-4 billion dollars if the government fails to negotiate effectively or offset the burden. Additionally, he appreciated the amendments to EFS through SRO 1435(I)/2025 dated August 5, 2025, which have excluded cotton, yarn, and grey cloth from zero-rating, thereby making local market players more competitive.
In his concluding remarks, Mian Zahid Hussain urged federal policymakers to decouple the export sector from domestic energy inefficiencies immediately. He demanded the swift introduction of a comprehensive Energy Support Package to rationalise electricity tariffs at a globally competitive level of 7 to 8 cents for export-oriented units. He emphasised that without immediate diplomatic and fiscal intervention to counter the global fuel crisis and tariff pressures, Pakistan risks a significant loss of its industrial base and international market share.
