On Wednesday, the Islamabad industry and Commerce Association (ICCI) predicted that in the next five years, if the textile industry was supported by the government and competed on the same stage of competition, Pakistan's textile exports could double, reaching 40 billion US dollars by 2020.

ICCI President Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi said Pakistan is the eighth largest textile exporter in Asia, and textile exports account for 8.5% of the country's GDP.

The government decided to reduce the growth rate of gas prices of self owned enterprises from 68% to 31%, which will have a positive impact on textile enterprises.

He said that the textile industry was disappointed with the federal budget of 2008-09. The budget did not propose any incentive measures to the textile industry. Meanwhile, the gas price of the self owned electrician factory increased by 68%, leading to the paralysis of the textile industry.

He said that the total number of employees in the country was 15 million, the contribution rate of the textile industry was more than 38%, and the contribution rate of the textile industry to the national exports exceeded 60%, about 5 billion 200 million US dollars, while the contribution rate to the total output of the country was about 46%.

At present, the global textile trade reaches US $350 billion per year, and will reach US $850 billion by 2020. If Pakistan's textile industry is supported by the government and 5% comes from the export trade, then by 2020, the scale of Pakistan's textile exports may increase to 40 billion US dollars.

He therefore asked the government to provide the biggest incentive to the textile industry so as to thoroughly develop the potential of the textile industry.