Faisalabad: Manufacturers will be the main losers in the new World Trade Order regime. The WTO is dominantly a commercial trade related agreement hinging on trade aspects of the international business and not manufacturing exporters.

This was the main theme of the workshop on WTO which was organized by the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (North Zone) here. Consultant Huma Fakhar explained the current world scenario and challenges being faced by manufacturers because of WTO regime.

She said "the US is the biggest consumer market but its consumers are vulnerable as compared to European consumers." Influential lobbies were decimating American economy. "Yarn is the second major sector after steel, which is protected by a strong lobby in the US congress."

Ms Fakhar said that after 9/11, the US government wanted to favour Pakistan on clothing but couldn't do so only because of this lobby. "Most economic decisions are politically motivated and the coming presidential elections in the US has made the fate of quota regime uncertain."

Ms Fakhar dispelled the impression that there would be no barriers in post quota regime in 2005. A number of political, environmental and economic safeguards have been made available under the WTO, which will be exploited by the developed countries to the detriment of the developing countries.

"Most Pakistani exporters are unaware of these safeguards whereas the foreign exporters are fully prepared to exploit these safeguards." She stressed the need for investing in research and development to survive during WTO regime and said that exporters must understand the importance of consultants and seek their help in dealing with new challenges.

The hosiery manufacturers also raised questions and identified certain grey areas where the Pakistan government must play its role in protecting national industrial sector, particularly the small and medium entrepreneurs.

They were critical of the high cost of various utilities and said that it was difficult for them to improve the quality of their products in the given circumstances.

Ms Fakhar said that associations should collect and disseminate information for the benefit of its members. PHMA (North Zone) chairman M.A. Khwaja hoped that the workshop would give the participants a guideline to deal with the WTO challenges.

PHMA central chairman Dr Khurram Tariq Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam, Chaudhry Javed Aslam, Shaheen Tabassum, Asamul Haq and other hosiery manufacturers also attended the workshop.