Pakistan’s leather industry is to be forced to slash export prices, as companies transfer production to countries such as South Korea and China in Asia, following the WTO decision, according to the Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA).
“Our exports to Europe will be affected due to the relocation of industries,” said S M Naseem, chairman of the PTA.
Pakistan’s leather exports reached $744 million in 2003, but insiders in the industry fear that the country’s second largest export industry is under threat. Following the WTO decision, most European manufacturers have moved their leather and footwear operations away from Pakistan, to new cheaper locations, including India.
Mr Naseem also criticised the government’s decision to impose duty on the imports of tannery machinery as a further hindrance to the industry. “The machinery made locally is technologically inferior which not only increases the cost of production, but restricts us from developing on a par with the international market,” said Mr Naseem.
