Second biggest export of Pakistan is rice. which is causing a continuous increase in foreign exchange.
MAJOR IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF PAKISTAN
1. MAJOR EXPORTS 1. Raw cotton, Textile products and Cotton yarn. 2. Rice. 3. Leather and leather products. 4. Carpets and rugs, Tents. 5. Synthetic textiles. 6. Surgical instruments. 7. Sports goods. 8. Readymade garments. 9. Vegetable, fruit and fish. 10. Engineering goods. 11. Chemicals and Pharmaceutical products.
2. Exports of Pakistan Exports were targeted at $18.6 billion or 12.9 percent higher than last year. Export of food group declined by 3.5 percent. This declined is caused by a 2.6 percent and 14.3 percent decline in exports of rice and fruits. Export of rice declined due to lesser production caused by adverse weather condition which kept the domestic price higher.
3. It was more profitable to sell within the country than to export. Exports of textile manufactures grew by 0.2 percent. Prominent among these are export of knitwear 13.9 percent, readymade garments 6.8 percent, made up articles 8.9 percent, cotton yarn 4.6 percent and towels 2.6 percent. Exports of other textile materials registered a high double digit growth of 17.2 percent. Export of raw cotton, cotton cloth and bed wear on the other hand registered a decline.
4. Direction of Exports of Pakistan Although Pakistan trade with a large number of countries its exports are however highly concentrated in few countries including USA, Germany, Japan, UK, Hong Kong, Dubai and Saudi Arabia which account for one- half of its exports. The United States is largest export market for Pakistan, accounting for 28.4 percent of its exports followed by UK and Germany. Japan is fast vanishing as export market for Pakistan as its share in total exports has been on decline for one decade, reaching less than one percent from 5.7 percent a decade ago.
5. ISSUES TO BE CONSIDERED SERIOUSLY Pakistan needs to diversify its exports not only in terms of commodities but also in terms of markets. Heavy concentration of exports in few commodities and few markets can lead to export instability. Other issues which need to be addressed include low value added and poor quality, obsolete use of machinery and technology, higher wastage of inputs adding to the cost of production, low labor productivity, little spending on research and development, export houses lacking capacity to meet bulk orders, inability to meet requirements of consumers I terms of fashion and design, non-adherence to contracted quality and delivery schedule, lack of marketing techniques etc.
6. Major Imports of Pakistan 1. Machinery. 2. Petroleum. 3. Chemicals. 4. Vehicles and spare parts. 5. Edible Oil. 6. Wheat. 7. Tea. 8. Fertilizers. 9. Plastic material. 10. Paper Board 11. Iron ore and steel. 12. Pharmaceutical products.
7. Imports of Pakistan Pakistan’s imports are also highly concentrated in few items namely, machinery, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, edible oil, iron and steel, fertilizer and tea. These imports accounted for 73% of total imports during 2006-07. Among these categories machinery, petroleum/petroleum products and chemicals accounted for 53.4% of total imports.
8. Direction of Imports of Pakistan Pakistan’s imports are highly concentrated in few countries. Over 40 percent of them continue to originate from just seven countries namely, the USA, Japan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Germany, UK and Malaysia. Saudi Arabia is emerging as major supplier to Pakistan followed by the USA and Japan. The shares of USA and Japan, with some fluctuations, exhibited a declining trend because of the shift in the import of machinery/capital goods and raw materials to other sources.
9. On the other hand, the share of Pakistan’s imports from Saudi Arabia has been rising due to higher imports of POL products. Malaysia share has shown rising, as well as, falling trends over the years mainly on account of fluctuations in palm oil prices.
10. COMMERCIAL POLICY It is an economic policy which is concerned with those decisions, strategies and instruments which influence the foreign trade sector of an economy. In the commercial policy it is to be decided that what will be the exports and imports of the country, whether the foreign trade sector will be consisting of consumer goods or the producer goods and whether the trade will be free or restricted.