Pakistan's exports show signs of recovery owing to product diversification, government support: official

The exports of Pakistan are showing clear signs of recovery owing to the efforts of exporters to diversify products in the wake of new opportunities arising amid COVID-19, and support from the government in this regard, a senior official said Thursday.

Abdul Razak Dawood, advisor to Pakistani prime minister on commerce, textile, industry and production, and investment made the remarks while chairing a meeting to discuss export strategy of Pakistan at the Ministry of Commerce.

The export sector has been given new impetus by the government by allowing the export of personal protective equipment which is indicated by the surge of exports in the month of June, he said, adding that "other policies of the government for diversification of exports and international markets will enable us to continue the thrust in the current fiscal year as well."

Talking about the export strategy, the advisor said that greater emphasis will be put on product diversification, including engineering products, pharmaceuticals, agro products and services.

Before the outbreak of the pandemic in Pakistan near the end of February this year, Pakistan's exports were on an upward trajectory and it showed an increase of 14 percent as compared to the same month last year, according to the statistics shared during the meeting.

This momentum for February continued despite the initial outbreak of the pandemic as the first 10 days of March registered an increase of 13 percent as compared to the last year.

In mid-March 2020, because of a lockdown to control the spread of the pandemic, followed by a global economic slowdown, the export-oriented industry in Pakistan suffered.

In April 2020, the exports showed a downward trend of 54 percent as compared to April 2019, according to the statistics.

After the month of April, with the efforts of the government to encourage the export sector, the first signs of recovery were observed in the month of May 2020, which only saw 33 percent decline in exports as compared to the same month last year, the statistics said.

The momentum continued in June 2020 as the downward trend has been brought down to 6 percent.