ISLAMABAD: Dr. Jassu Mal, chairman of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners’ Association, has said low cotton output has forced more than 60% of ginners to completely shut their factories in the past three years, leaving hundreds of thousands of farmers and textile workers out of work, international media reported on Wednesday.
Pakistan, one of the world’s largest cotton producers, is finding it increasingly hard to meet its own needs, a problem that could push up import bills and further hurt its fragile economy.
“Years of bad weather, pest outbreaks and better margins on other crops have hurt the quality and quantity of Pakistan’s cotton harvest,” Bloomberg reported. “Production in the current fiscal year is set to tumble to the lowest level in about three decades.”
As a result, the country is spending billions of dollars to import record amounts of cotton to feed its textile industry. Its current account has recently flipped back into a deficit amid higher imports. The move also threatens to boost cotton prices, which have already hit a seven-year high.
Cotton is one of the most important cash crops for Pakistan and commonly referred to as “white gold” by the 1.5 million farmers that depend on it for a living. It serves as the raw material for the textile industry, which provides employment to 40% of the workforce and generates more than half of foreign exchange earnings.
“The cotton crop has shrunk to an alarming level but we don’t see the government taking any serious steps to revive production,” Mal, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Sindh Agro Industries and operates Pakistan’s biggest ginning mill in Hyderabad, told Bloomberg.
In the latest season, Mal had to close at least three of his seven factories and run others at 50% capacity due to the lack of cotton. The company’s number of ginning workers has plunged to 100 from 400 about five years ago.
Pakistan’s cotton production is forecast to slump to less than 6 million bales in 2020-21, the lowest since at least 1992, Nasim Usman, chairman of the Karachi Cotton Brokers Forum, told Bloomberg. At its peak, output was more than 14 million bales in 2004-05.
The government has set a target for 10.5 million bales for fiscal 2022.
The country is paying dearly for overseas cotton and would need to import 3 million to 4 million more bales by June, said Khaqan Najeeb, a former adviser to Pakistan’s finance ministry.
Higher purchases could further boost global cotton prices and widen Pakistan’s trade deficit, which rose more than 120% to $3.3 billion in March as Khan’s government struggles to tame inflation. A weaker rupee raises prices of essentials at home when the country’s balance of payment position worsens.
60% ginners shut factories in Pakistan in last three years as cotton output nosedives
https://arab.news/nxtcc
60% ginners shut factories in Pakistan in last three years as cotton output nosedives
- Bad weather, pest outbreaks and better margins on other crops have hurt quality and quantity of cotton harvest
- Production in the current fiscal year is set to tumble to the lowest level in about three decades
Pakistan begins talks with Saudi delegation on local vaccine manufacturing
- Health ministry has warned vaccine import costs could rise from $400 million to $1.2 billion by 2031
- Local vaccine manufacturing would strengthen health security and help conserve foreign exchange
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday formally began discussions with a high-level Saudi delegation on establishing local vaccine manufacturing, as Islamabad seeks to reduce import dependence and prepare for the eventual end of international funding support for its national immunization program.
The talks come amid Pakistan’s broader push to strengthen health security and industrial capacity. The country of more than 240 million people currently imports all vaccines used in its national immunization campaigns, relying heavily on international partners to help cover costs.
Officials say local vaccine manufacturing would not only strengthen health security but also help conserve foreign exchange and support Pakistan’s longer-term economic stability as the country looks to cut costly imports and build export-oriented industrial capacity.
According to the Ministry of National Health Services, the eleven-member Saudi delegation is led by Nizar Al-Hariri, senior adviser to Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry, and is visiting Pakistan as part of efforts to deepen bilateral cooperation in health, pharmaceutical manufacturing and industrial collaboration.
“Practical progress is being made toward the local production of vaccines for 13 diseases in Pakistan,” the health ministry said in a statement, quoting Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal who met the delegation in Islamabad.
Pakistani officials presented detailed briefings on current vaccine demand, existing infrastructure and production capacity.
“Collaboration between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in the health sector will set an example for the entire region,” the ministry said.
Kamal told the visiting delegation Pakistan is the world’s fifth most populous country, with around 6.2 million children born each year, adding that the country’s annual population growth is roughly equivalent to the population of New Zealand.
He said the government currently provides vaccines for 13 diseases free of cost but does not manufacture any of them domestically, forcing Pakistan to import vaccines at an annual cost of about $400 million.
According to the ministry, international partners currently cover 49 percent of those costs, with the remainder borne by the Pakistani government. However, Kamal warned that this external support is expected to end after 2031.
“If vaccines are not manufactured locally, the annual cost could rise to $1.2 billion by 2031, which would place a heavy burden on the national economy,” the ministry quoted him as saying.
Pakistan regularly conducts nationwide immunization campaigns against diseases including polio, measles, rubella and hepatitis. This week, it launched a seven-day polio vaccination drive aimed at inoculating more than 45 million children.
