LAHORE: The exports of hand-knotted carpets are on the decline due to the dearth of skilled workforce, expensive raw materials and higher cost of doing business.

The indifferent attitude of successive governments had also played a key role in the downfall of the carpet industry, which was once vibrant and attracted buyers from across the world.

Exports of hand-made carpets are continuously on the decline since touching the peak of $350 million in the late 90s. The hand-knotted carpets export was below $60 million in the last fiscal year. Since the last two to three years, carpet exports are hovering around $50 to $60 million. Of the 150 plus exporters, 10 major players are getting more than 70 per cent share of the total carpet exports.

In the late 90s, the carpet exports of arch rival India were only $100 million, far less than Pakistan. Now, India is the top carpet exporting country in the world. Turkey is also far ahead of Pakistan in carpet exports.

Despite earning huge money for almost two decades, many exporters made little or even no investment in bringing improvement in the life of the local artisans who mastered the art of weaving carpets from Persian designs.

They [exporters] preferred Afghan refugees over the local artisans to cut labour costs. These Afghan refugees were experts in weaving Kazakh design carpets. Gradually the local artisans, mostly from Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Lahore divisions, sought employment in different industries due to preference of exporters for the Kazakh over the Persian designs.

The carpet exports suffered a setback, as many Afghan artisans returned to their country after the Russians left Afghanistan. The exporters, however, established liaisons with the Afghan-based weavers, started providing thread and procuring unfinished/unwashed carpets.

Now Kazakh design carpets weaved by artisans based in Afghanistan had 80 per cent share in the total exports, while the remaining 20 per cent share is for the Persian designs weaved by the locals.

More than 100 units are manufacturing thread for carpets in Multan district. Around 70 to 80 per cent wool imported from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and New Zealand is mixed with the local material for thread manufacturing.

The main reason for the wool import is the quality, which varies from region to region. High quality imported wool is mixed with the local wool for getting superior quality thread.

The carpet industry is facing numerous challenges, including reliance on imported raw material, indifferent attitude of successive governments, duties on import of unwashed and unfinished carpets and no separate status, as at present, carpets fall under the textile sector as a subsector.

“Overall textile exports are increasing but the situation is entirely opposite in the carpet subsector. It is going from bad to worse. The government support is key to revive the carpet industry that has the potential of earning huge foreign exchange for the country”, said Mian Attiq-ur-Rehman, chief executive officer of Pak Shalimar Carpets, one of the leading hand-knotted carpet exporters of the country.

Referring to the causes of dip in carpet exports, he said, the local industry has failed to follow the global trend.

“The global trend is changing. Machine-made carpets are now in huge demand. High-tech machine weaves are as good as knots made by an artisan,” he said, adding that the government should facilitate exporters in shifting from hand-knotted to machine-weaved carpets.

“The government should establish a carpet city, provide land on easy installments and facilitate exporters in getting bank loans for the import of required machinery and raw materials,” he said.

Pakistan should learn from the Turkey model, he said.

“Turkey has made progress by leaps and bounds. It set up a carpet city and facilitated import of machinery for the industry. Shifting from hand-knotted to machine-made carpets has proved successful for Turkey. Now carpet exports from Turkey stood at $1.56 billion,” he said.

For Attiq-ur-Rehman recognising carpet as a separate industry and giving facilities according to its own requirements is the need of the hour.

“The requirements of the textile and carpet industries are different. The textile sector is entitled to subsidised gas, power and export finance. But carpets do not consume much power or gas. As such most of the facilities for the textile sector are of little or even no value for the carpet exporters,” he said.

He suggested sales tax exemption for the import of unwashed and unfinished carpets from Afghanistan for giving a much-needed boost to the neglected industry.

“Unfinished and unwashed carpets imported from Afghanistan should be treated as raw material. We process these carpets before their export,” he said, adding that the sales tax exemption could help increase exports of finished carpets.

Ijaz-ur-Rehman, CEO of Saad Oriental Carpets, one of major exporters of hand-knotted carpets, said that business-friendly policies and the government’s support are a must for the revival of the sick carpet industry.

“High landing cost of imported raw material due to inflation and increase in freight charges has made it difficult for the exporters to compete in the global market,” he said, adding that the government should intervene to give the much-needed relief to the carpet industry.

According to Ijaz-ur-Rehman, the government should set up a carpet city, provide land on easy installments, give tax exemptions and soft loans for duty-free import of machinery for shifting from hand-knotted to machine-weaved carpets.