Pakistan: Exports down 2.7%
Figures from the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry show that Pakistan exported goods worth $6.53 billion in the first nine months of the 2001/2002 fiscal year, representing a 2.7% fall from the $6.7 billion exported during the same period a year before.
Acting president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Iftikhar Ghani Vohra, said that the decline could be attributed to the terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001, but remained optimistic about the future. With Pakistan's active participation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, and the exploitation of increased quotas for the EU, Mr Vohra said he hoped that Pakistan will export $8-$9 billion over the full year.
Mr Vohra said he believed that General Musharaff’s policy to join in the campaign against terrorism combined with economic reforms had benefited external trade. However, he added that low levels of investment and lower productivity in the domestic market were problems that inevitably made Pakistan’s exports less competitive in the global marketplace.
