Experts mentioned in the Economic Survey of Pakistan that even prior to Covid-19 outbreak, globalization in trade, finance, investment and migration was facing a number of headwinds, stimulated through geopolitical tensions over trade between the United States (US) and China, “Brexit” vote for United Kingdom (UK) also rising polarization and social inequality. The pandemic has further exacerbated the prevailing trade relationships among nations. All the measures taken by the states to restrain the spread of virus like closure of borders, strict lockdowns and quarantines have distorted supply chains and weakened the demand of an interconnected economy. This has resulted in an overall decline in global output and trade during 2020.
| Pakistan: Export Receipts By Sports Goods (Thousand US Dollar) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | Jul-Jun | Dec | Nov | Dec | Jul-Dec | ||
| FY20 | FY21 | FY21 | FY22 R | FY22 P | FY21 | FY22 P | |
| Sports Goods | 458,302 | 470,320 | 38,069 | 44,311 | 46,387 | 239,908 | 253,534 |
| A) Footballs | 183,013 | 157,664 | 12,555 | 15,902 | 16,540 | 89,521 | 87,611 |
| B) Gloves | 103,271 | 95,930 | 6,480 | 8,046 | 9,548 | 52,784 | 47,521 |
| C) Others | 172,018 | 216,726 | 19,035 | 20,362 | 20,298 | 97,604 | 118,402 |
From 2011 onward, researchers identified that oil prices increased, and this affected the balance of trade in Pakistan. Deterioration in terms of trade along with a surge in oil prices had a severe repercussion on the value of exports, particularly cotton and textiles in the country. Due to this, their value remains comparatively lower, although the number of export products has increased. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2016-17, the reason behind the decline in our sports goods’ exports were the non-favorable prices for our exports in the foreign market. Hence sports goods’ such as our football declined during 2015-16. The main reason behind the decrease in our export of textile and sports goods during 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 was the overvaluation of the rupee against the dollar. Certain measures were taken by the government of Pakistan in 2017, like ensuring supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and lowering interest rates, positively impacted export of textiles, sports goods, and household products. These were expected to grow in 2018. But during the last quarter of 2019 and all of 2020, the export sector faced a severe brunt because of lockdowns globally. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the exports of sports goods recorded a rise of 24.48 percent during the first five months of current financial year (2021-22) as against to the exports of same period of last year. Pakistan exported sport goods worth $134.803 million during July-November (2021-22) as compared to the exports of $108.296 million during July-November (2020-21), showing growth of 24.48 percent. Furthermore, among the sports products, the exports of footballs grew by 19.34 percent as these surge from $53.354 million previous year to $63.671 million during the current year. The gloves’ exports rose by 12.90 percent by going up from $28.056 million previous year to $31.676 million during the current year. Likewise, the exports of all other sports goods were increased by 46.75 percent from $26.886 million previous year to $39.456 million during the current year. Meanwhile, year-on-year (YoY) basis the sports goods’ export witnessed a rise of 39.47 percent in November 2021 as against to the export of the same month of last year. Statistics identified that the sport goods exports in November 2021 were registered at $29.604 million against the exports of $21.226 million in November 2020. During the period under review, the exports of footballs, gloves and other sports products increased by 27.88 percent, 45.60 percent and 55.56 percent respectively. On month-on-month (MoM) basis, the exports of sports goods grew by 8.41 percent during November 2021, as against to the exports of $27.307 million in October 2021. On MoM basis, the exports of footballs, gloves and other sports commodities grew by 4.11 percent, 9.30 percent and 5.758 percent respectively.
Conclusion
No doubt, our exports to other states are shallow and need product diversification. The quality of our goods for these markets is not consistent. We have a very weak and at times non-existent quality check, and checks & balance system at the local level. The government of Pakistan should focus on this issue to ensure quality. The government must ensure a consistent power supply to the exporting sector at a lower cost. Our export sector cannot complete the timely demand of the foreign markets because of shortage of power supply. Due to stringent competition in the regional markets, country is faced with higher costs and an inconsistent supply of power in its export sector. Installation of advanced technology along with skilled labour is urgently needed for Pakistan’s export sector. The government should focus on research and innovation in the export sector.