Promoting Agricultural Value Chains:
In the OIC Member Countries
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great hopes are vested in Bt cotton varieties to improve the resistance of cotton plants.
However, continued delays in the areas of seed law adoption are currently stalling the further
development of Bt cotton.
Issues of poor quality cotton also impact on the economy and drive up imports of more
expensive, higher quality cotton. Yet, as long as general quality standards are lacking or not
adhered to, cotton produced in Pakistan will continue to be of mostly mediocre quality due to
widespread practices of adulteration of seed cotton with water and foreign matter. Although
this problem is recognised by the Government of Pakistan, joint efforts of public and private
actors seem necessary to ensure cotton quality.
Similarly, upgrading of infrastructure (e.g. mills) is needed to reduce the costs per unit. This
seems particularly challenging, as much of the machinery belongs to small and medium-sized
processing and textile manufacturing units which increases the costs due to scale
diseconomies. At the same time, investments are essential if Pakistan wants to move up the
value ladder and focus on developing the ready-made garment sector which sits as the top of
the value added chain, as also emphasised by the Government in its latest Textile Policy.
In this context, the Pakistan’s current GSP Plus status to the EU is expected to result in a
considerable push to the cotton and textile sectors. Exports are estimated to increase by US$ 1
billion per year, which can spur the expansion of the sectors and stimulate enhanced private
and public investments.