Pearl abduction panics US traders visiting Pakistan
KARACHI- The kidnapping of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi has panicked the US buyers to visit Pakistan, said Azhar Elahi, a leading garment exporter, who has just returned after surveying the American market.
He said on Monday although the tension had subsided in the region after the surrender of Taliban, the representatives of big importing firms were still reluctant to come to Pakistan due to various reasons, including the kidnapping of Pearl.
Azhar said that no US garment buyers had visited Pakistan after the Sept. 11 incidents, which had severely affected the garment industry.
Azhar urged the government to create a conducive atmosphere in .the country, which could end the US buyers’ reluctance to visit Pakistan.
President Pervez Musharraf current visit to US could be fruitful if President George. Bush was requested to ask the US textile importers s to carry out normal business with Pakistan, he said.
Azhar said for exports of readymade garments, the buyers had to visit the importing country to see for themselves the samples and inspect the quality of the finished products, “The US buyers do not place orders with a country they am reluctant to visit because of security concerns, ” he added.
He did not agree with the suggestion that the slow business activity might be due to the recession in the US, and said that Pakistan’s garment share in the US market was so small that it could not be affected by recession.
Contrary to this, he said the low price products, supplied by Pakistan, had a greater chance of sales in the US market in bad economic times.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:2/12/2002
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