The Government is contemplating the liberalization of the imports of fabrics into the country. This is a very detrimental move and will result in a catastrophic scenario for the local industry. Billions of rupees are at present invested in the domestic textile industry. This industry caters to the total requirements of the country and also constitutes over sixty percent of the export earnings. It is a known fact that due to the efforts of the textile people, there has been a tremendous upsurge in demand for cloth.

The fact of the matter is that the demand for processed fabrics will zoom up to 1.650 Billion square meters within the next five years ! This is the time for the local industry to earn its spurs and reap in the accrued benefits. This is the time for the local industry to invest in state-of-the-art machinery to cope with the expected increase in demand. This is the time when the policy-makers should go all out to support and spruce up the domestic textile industry. Unfortunately, somebody is out to put a monkey wrench in this situation by the absurd and ludicrous decision to allow imports of fabrics..

The very fact that the nation is dependent on the domestic textile industry negates the very idea of strangling it by allowing fabrics to be imported into the country. Pakistani entrepreneurs have carved out a niche for them in this field and they have progressed tremendously in the process.

The Government reckons that the liberal imports of fabrics will deter the smugglers who will then not find it a viable venture. The liberal imports, however, will be a boon to the very smugglers which the Government has targeted. Using the umbrella of this import regime, the smugglers and the unscrupulous fabric dealers will continue to sell smuggled fabrics in the retail outlets. The outcome will be the advent of a convenient system for them to abuse. The shoddy, cheap, and trashy rejects churned out by foreign mills will end up here and Pakistan will once again become the dumping ground for the dealers of these third-rate fabrics. The bestowing of carte blanche to the immoral smugglers will be the avenue of declivity on which the domestic industry will be shoved unceremoniously.

The Government believes that the liberal imports is in conformity with the features of the Uruguay Round, to which Pakistan is also a signatory. Why should this nation hurry to implement the conditions of this Pact ? Let USA, Canada, and Europe get rid of their quota restrictions, their maze of regulations, and their tough policies against this country. Only then and no time sooner should this country allow unbridled imports of fabrics.

The Government counters that this will be a big help in providing the fillip needed to improve domestic fabric quality. The ideal thing is for the Export Promotion Bureau, the local Textile Associations, and foreign experts to get together and organize programs to impart training to improve the quality. Free imports may become a source of competition in the short-term, but at the end of the day, these will kill the local industry.

The Government advocates the liberal imports because it will result in lower prices for local products. Anytime there is a system where there is undue competition, where there is no level playing field, and where the yarn cost and the value of other inputs are high due to Governmental policies, the price factor will be of vital importance. The local products will not be able to compete because of this front-loading and in the short run there will be price cuts. The end result will, however, be the closure of local mills because of this disproportionate advantage to imported fabrics.

Those industries such as the filament yarn manufacturers, the synthetic fiber mills, the spinning units, the thousands of small weaving units, the textile printing and dyeing factories all will face closure, lay-off, or reduction in production, just because somebody came up with the asinine idea to allow the influx of foreign fabrics into the country.

Furthermore, all efforts to increase exports will come to naught because the textile auxiliaries will all be in the doldrums. Calamity will have befallen on the entire industry and gloomy forecasts will appear in press and other media. The balance of payments deficit will loom large, and doomsday theorists will have a field day. The proverbial begging bowl will be in the hands of the Finance Minister and his Secretary. IMF and the World Bank officials will be doing the Bhangra at the nation’s expense. The Chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau will keep on lamenting the deep-dive of the export figures. The smugglers will hold festivals to celebrate their successes. The corrupt officials will be the Guests of Honor at these events. The politicians, as usual, will continue with their petty squabbling, character assassination, and me-patriot-you-traitor chants. They don’t care what comes in or goes out.

The country will witness a deep slash in the industrial investments. The importers and the traders will have no qualms in getting a piece of the action because it will be a free-for-all season. The markets will be flooded with these goods as importers will get a brand new field to saturate the markets. There will be Baras at every nook and corner.

Pretty soon, the weavers in Faisalabad and Gujranwala will join their brothers in Karachi to go on a strike. FPCCI’s list of sick industries will zoom from 3000 to 30000. The mandarins in the Finance Ministry will then deal another blow to the textile industry by imposing new taxes and announcing tough and harsh measures to further tighten the screws.

The foreigners will be relishing the pandemonium prevalent in Pakistan. The Fifth Columnists in the country will take ample advantage of this crisis and create more unrest and feelings of terror in the innocent industrialists. The Opposition will take steps to use this for their own benefit. The country will suffer, unnecessarily.

Why is there no consistency in the policies of the Pakistani Government, whichever party is in power ? Why do they allow the policy-makers in the bureaucracy to come up with nation-damaging ideas ? Why do they allow the systematic devastation of industries in the country ? Why do the people in power become ostriches with their heads in the ground, always, every time ? When will they ever learn ? If ever !