Pakistan Institute of Development Economics

Search
Search

Importance of Regionally Competitive Energy Tariffs for the Textile Sector of Pakistan

Date : March 27, 2021 at 11:00 AM
Moderator: Dr. Nadeem ul Haq (Vice Chancellor PIDE)
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, Khadija Malik Bari, Assistant professor IBA, Karachi, 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.