The Minister for Commerce chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday to review Pakistan’s trade performance during the first two months of the current financial year 2025–26.
Senior officials and representatives from relevant departments attended the meeting. The meeting noted that Pakistan’s exports remained stable at $5.11 billion during July–August FY26, despite challenging global conditions.
The textile and apparel sector remained the mainstay of exports with a 10% increase, reaffirming its role as a backbone of Pakistan’s export economy. Encouragingly, Pakistan’s exports to Africa grew by 9% and to South Asia by 7%, while stable performance was recorded in North America and the EU.
It was observed that imports were mainly driven by higher requirements for energy, raw materials, and food items, indicating growing domestic economic activity.
The minister emphasized that this trend provides opportunities for import substitution and investment in local manufacturing under the government’s “Make in Pakistan” initiative.
The minister issued key directions for diversification of export products and markets with a focus on high-value and non-traditional sectors and the development of import substitution strategies to reduce reliance on food and energy imports.
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The minister also directed the strengthening of export competitiveness and integration into global value chains and expediting measures for value addition in textiles, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors.
The minister commended exporters for sustaining resilience and reiterated the government’s commitment to facilitating the business community, securing new market access, and ensuring sustainable trade growth.
