Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) has said that establishment of brands in the textile industry will fetch better export volumes, regretting the exporters, unfortunately, didn’t focus on these lines earlier. Speaking to a delegation of Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA), PBF President Mian Usman Zulfiqar said that Pakistan’s fashion designing and textile industry have emerged as important components of national trade because of their export potential, said a statement issued on Friday. He was of the view that the two segments have tremendous potential to secure a mammoth share in the international fashion market. “Pakistan can grab a significant share in fashion industry exports if it succeeds in attracting the attention of foreign buyers,” he added. He suggested the government announce the setting up of five mega textiles parks to make the industry globally competitive. The government may also make it compulsory for the large spinning units having more than 30,000 spindles to grow their own cotton to manufacture cotton yarn and extend full support to them because the country’s textile exports cannot be enhanced without increasing the area under cotton cultivation and yield. He said, “Currently our textile industry is running on its full capacity and it’s not only Pakistan, all supplier countries are loaded with orders because stores are empty. We have to draw a certain mechanism to continue with this for a longer term.” The textile industry emerged as a major part of the industrialisation process in Pakistan during the 1960s and there are about 1,200 ginning factories in the country till date, including 250 factories in Sindh and more than 720 in Punjab. One must understand Pakistan is an agrarian country, its textile industry is considered as the backbone of the national economy because this sector is not only contributing 8.5pc share in GDP but also providing job opportunities to 40 percent of total labour force, he further said. He said that the textile industry is also producing artificial silk which resembles silk but costs less, while about 90,000 looms are working on this product across the country. “We are producing high quality fabric as compared to the fabric produced in other countries,” he said. On the occasion, the PRGMEA officials demanded that Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, which is presently non-operative, should acquire containerised ships on lease to facilitate the exporters, as this strategy would help the government keep freight cost in control and make textile exports competitive in the global market.