ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports, mostly of textile products, witnessed an over 19 per cent growth in the first nine months of the calendar year 2014 from a year ago owing to preferential market access under the GSP-Plus scheme.

“We have achieved our target projected for the first year of the implementation of the GSP-Plus scheme,” Commerce Mini-ster Khurram Dastagir said here on Thursday while briefing newsmen on the performance of the EU preferential package.

For the first year (January to December), the commerce ministry had projected a target of over a $1 billion increase in exports to EU.

The GSP-Plus is effective from Jan 1 which will be available to Pakistani exporters for the next 10 years.

The commerce minister ruled out any links between the GSP-Plus and the moratorium on death penalty in Pakistan. The implementation of 27 UN conventions are a separate thing, the minister explained.

As per EU data, Pakis-tan’s exports to EU states reached $5.672bn in January-September 2014, up by 19.09pc from $4.763bn over the corresponding months of last year.

During the same period, a growth of 6.21pc was recorded in 2013 over the previous year, when there was no preferential package for Pakistani exporters. Nearly 70pc of exports to EU are of textile and clothing.

Exports of home textile reached $1.084bn in January-September 2014 as against $849.02m over the corresponding period of last year, reflecting an increase of 27.78pc.

Export of textile garments edged up by 27.10pc to $1.870bn during the period under review as against $1.471bn over the corresponding period of last year.

Total exports of textile products, which are non-value added, also increased by 21.75pc to $3.963bn in January-September 2014 from $3.255bn over the corresponding period of last year.

In the non-textile sector, exports of footwear witnessed an impressive growth of 26.10pc to $82.86m during the Jan-Sept 2014 as against $65.71m over the corresponding period of last year.

Similarly, export of leather witnessed a growth of 10.63pc as its value reached $477.65m during the period under review as against $432.83m over the corresponding period of last year.

The minister said that overall exports also rebounded and witnessed a growth of 9.9pc in November 2014 over the corresponding period of last year. He said energy supply to the industry will be improved early next year following import of LNG.

Asked about the status of the implementation of Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2012-15, the minister said that the government had decided to evolve a new framework.

“The STPF should not be a subsidy package”, the minister said.

To a question, the minister said government will soon appoint an ambassador to the WTO.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2014