KARACHI, September 25, 2026: Atif Ikram Sheikh, President FPCCI & ECO-CCI and Vice President CACCI, has called for a joint Asia-Pacific strategy to strengthen the region’s textile industry, enhance competitiveness and expand its share in global markets.

KARACHI, September 25, 2026: Atif Ikram Sheikh, President FPCCI & ECO-CCI and Vice President CACCI, has called for a joint Asia-Pacific strategy to strengthen the region’s textile industry, enhance competitiveness and expand its share in global markets.

He made these remarks while presenting Pakistan’s perspective on regional textile integration at a CACCI webinar on “Textile Industry in Asia Pacific Region: Opportunities, Challenges and Way Forward,” organized under the Asia Textile and Garment Council, chaired by FPCCI.

Addressing the Director General CACCI and representatives of 28 CACCI member chambers, Atif Ikram Sheikh thanked the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry for co-organizing the webinar and appreciated CACCI’s role as an important regional platform for promoting business cooperation and economic development.

Highlighting the global and regional outlook, he noted that the global textile market is projected to grow from US2. 12𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑛2025𝑡𝑜𝑈𝑆4.27 trillion by 2035, while the Asia-Pacific region, with around 53% of the global market, is projected to grow from US1. 14𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑈𝑆2.33 trillion during the same period. He noted that the textile sector employs around 100 million people, rising to approximately 430 million when the wider fashion and apparel sector is included, and contributes around 2% to global GDP. China alone accounts for around 32% of global textile exports.

Speaking about Pakistan’s textile strengths, he said the sector remains a backbone of Pakistan’s economy, accounting for around 60% of national exports, with textile exports of US$17.88 billion, 24.2% of industrial value addition and 40% of industrial employment. Pakistan is the 8th-largest textile exporter in Asia, 3rd-largest yarn producer, 5th-largest cotton producer and 4th-largest cotton consumer.

He highlighted Pakistan’s integrated textile value chain, extending from cotton production to finished garments, and cited incentives including duty-free import of machinery, lower tariffs on raw materials, GSP+ access to the European Union, zero-duty access to China, Duty Drawback and Long-Term Financing Facility (LTFF) at concessional rates.

Atif Ikram Sheikh further highlighted Pakistan's geographical position as a potential gateway to Central Asia, the Gulf and the Far East, supported by CPEC connectivity and expanding road and rail corridors linking Pakistan with Türkiye and Central Asia through Iran.

On the way forward, he proposed that Asia-Pacific countries should complement competition with greater regional cooperation and explore a joint strategy for expanding textile exports to the EU, Africa and US markets. He emphasized that future competitiveness will increasingly depend on sustainability, technological innovation, digital traceability, Al-enabled product development, cross-border investment and international branding.

He also pointed to significant untapped export potential in apparel, home textiles, ready-made garments and industrial textiles, calling for stronger regional value chains and business-to-business partnerships.
The presentation was followed by a Q&A session during which Atif Ikram Sheikh responded to questions from representatives of CACCI national member chambers regarding supply-chain transparency, regulatory compliance, GSP+, and regional value-chain development.

He appreciated the CACCI leadership and Secretariat for organizing the webinar and providing an effective platform for dialogue on the future of the Asia-Pacific textile industry.

Brig Iftikhar Opel, SI (M), Retd.

Secretary General