Uruguay Round Agreement and Pakistan's Trade in Textiles and Clothing

The textile and clothing sector is of strategic importance to Pakistan, accounting for more than 50 percent of its manufactured exports. The phasing-out of MFA type restrictions and other trade barriers is generally expected to have positive effects on Pakistan's exports of textiles and clothing in the long run. At the same time, However, the eroson of preferencial treatment embodied in the Multi-Fiber Agreements poses many challenges to textile and clothing industry in Pakistan. The emerging scenario of freer trade in textiles and clothing highlights the need to enhance competitiveness in this sector by improving product quality, efficiency of resource use, and productivity. Also, there is a need to advance in the reforms and liberalization of the economy, and to focus public policy towards addressing the structural problems of the textiles and clothing with a view to enabling it to compete better in the more competitive international market.