Pakistani entrepreneurs plan to relocate textile units to Bangladesh

Pakistani entrepreneurs are planning to relocate their textile manufacturing units to Bangladesh to leverage the advantages given to least developed countries (LDC) of duty-free markets in the EU.

The manufacturers blame Pakistan for the rising costs of  production, power shortages, higher taxes and poor market access to developed countries, according to former textiles minister Mushtaq Ali Cheema who spoke to Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, offered lucrative incentives, which included uninterrupted power supply and tax-free status for the first 10 years as also tariff-free access to markets in the EU.

In September, a Pakistan business delegation in parleys with Bangladesh trade bodies expressed eagerness to relocate their textile units to Bangladesh.

According to Cheema, the exporters and manufacturers were disappointed with the Pakistan government for its poor business vision, which had completely neglected  the  textile industry in Pakistan.

A huge attraction in Bangladesh was the lack of tariffs in major markets such as the US and the EU. Classified as a "Least Developed Country," Bangladesh had been given special tariff-free access to markets in developed countries as an indirect form of aid.