ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports to the Middle East have experienced significant growth, surging by 28.98% to $1.257 billion during the initial five months of the current fiscal year, compared to the $974.50 million recorded in the same period the previous year.
This robust performance is attributed to heightened demand from key nations in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, according to data compiled by the State Bank of Pakistan.
Despite a decline in exports to Qatar during this period, the recent signing of a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is anticipated to further facilitate Pakistan’s exports to the region.
In the preceding fiscal year (FY23), Pakistan faced a contraction in exports to the Middle East by 12.62%, falling to $2.332 billion from $2.669 billion in the previous year. Additionally, imports witnessed a decrease of 7.24%, totaling $17.488 billion in FY23 compared to $18.853 billion in the previous year.
Exports to Saudi Arabia demonstrated a remarkable surge of 50% in the first five months of FY24, reaching $275.65 million from $183.73 million in the corresponding months of the preceding year.
Saudi Arabia stands as Pakistan’s second-largest market in the region, following the UAE. In FY23, exports to Saudi Arabia had risen by 13.1% to $503.40 million from $420.40 million in the previous fiscal year.
Meanwhile, exports to the UAE showed a significant uptick of 33%, totaling $817.978 million in the initial five months of FY24 compared to $614.864 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.
This rebound follows a decline of 20.23% in FY23, with exports totaling $1.474 billion compared to $1.848 billion in the corresponding months of FY22.
Notably, a substantial portion of exports to the UAE, amounting to $655.90 million during July-November FY24, was directed to Dubai, reflecting a 17.59% increase from $557.77 million in the same period last year.
Key export products to the UAE encompass rice, bovine carcasses, men’s/boys’ cotton ensembles, guavas, and mangoes. Furthermore, leading sectoral exports include cereals, articles of apparel and clothing, meat, and edible offal.
While exports to Kuwait registered a 7.4% increase to $51.81 million during July-November FY24 from $48.24 million in the corresponding months of the previous year, exports to Qatar declined by 15.84% to $96.66 million in the same period from $83.44 million during FY23. Additionally, exports to Bahrain also witnessed a decrease of 6.35% to $29.04 million in 5MFY24 from $31.01 million over the corresponding period last year.
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
