Dubai: Pakistan is developing a US country plan to boost export of products that the US market lacks, Bilal Pasha, deputy secretary of Pakistan’s ministry of commerce, told Gulf News on Wednesday.

“We will allocate the resources for that group of products [that the US lacks],” he said.

The aim of the country plan is to increase trade with the US, and diversify exports of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to the country, according to Pasha.

“[Pakistan’s SME] exports are focused on the European and the Middle Eastern markets, so we need to look at the Far East and the US” he said.

Pakistan plans to divide its products into three categories: developmental, traditional and non-traditional products.

Some of the traditional products include rice and textiles, while the non-traditional ones are cutlery and petroleum products.

“Given the incentive of exports, [the non-traditional product] industry will come up, not only catering for the local market, but for the export [markets],” he said.

The developmental products include handicrafts, marble and granite.

Pakistan also aims to create a country plan for Japan, China and India, he said.

Export challenges

Some items such as textiles, are not included in the list of products that fall under the US GSP (Generalised System of Preferences), so exporters need to pay a duty.

The duty fee, which varies from 10 per cent to 32 per cent, can increase the value of a product.

“It is a challenge. We are at a disadvantage compared to duty- free exporters,” said Bashir Ali Mohammad, chairman of textile firm Gul Ahmad and an exporter from Pakistan.

He said he overcomes the problem through working with retailers in the US that help distribute his textile products.

“We have an office in New York. We have Americans who are designers and sales people who are working with the American community and the retailers, so in this way we can work fast,” Ali Mohammad said.

According to Pasha, Pakistani manufacturers use the imported cotton from the US to create their textile goods, after which it is exported back to the US.

Textiles account for 92 per cent of Pakistan’s exports to the US, which amounts to around $3.3 billion, yet Pakistan accounts for three per cent of textile imports to the US.

The US imported textiles and apparel worth over $100 billion last year.