Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Chairman of ECO-CCI, and Vice President of CACCI, called for a coordinated Asia-Pacific textile strategy to strengthen the region's textile industry competitiveness and expand its share of the global market, speaking at a CACCI webinar themed "Textile Industry in the Asia-Pacific Region: Opportunities, Challenges and the Way Forward."

Key Points

  • Atif Ikram Sheikh proposed at the CACCI webinar that the Asia-Pacific region needs a coordinated strategy to strengthen textile competitiveness and expand global market share.
  • The global textile market is projected to grow from $2.12 trillion in 2025 to $4.27 trillion in 2035, with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for about 53% of the global market, rising from $1.14 trillion to $2.33 trillion over the same period.
  • The textile industry directly employs about 100 million people, rising to 430 million when the broader fashion and apparel sector is included, contributing about 2% of global GDP; China accounts for about 32% of global textile exports.

At the webinar, Sheikh presented Pakistan's perspective on regional textile integration and acknowledged CACCI's role as an important regional platform for promoting business cooperation and economic development. Citing data, he noted that the global textile market was worth about $2.12 trillion in 2025 and is expected to expand to $4.27 trillion by 2035, with the Asia-Pacific region holding about 53% of the global market share, projected to grow from $1.14 trillion to $2.33 trillion.

On employment and economic contribution, Sheikh noted that the textile industry directly employs about 100 million people, a figure that rises to 430 million when the entire fashion and apparel supply chain is included, with the sector contributing about 2% of global GDP. He also highlighted that China alone accounts for about 32% of global textile exports.

In terms of the regional industrial landscape, the Asia-Pacific region is both the core of global textile manufacturing and exports and faces shared challenges in raising added value and responding to competition and market volatility. Sheikh's remarks placed Pakistan's demands within the framework of Asia-Pacific cooperation, advocating a coordinated approach to addressing challenges.

For the second-hand clothing trade and the textile supply chain, the trajectory of Asia-Pacific textile production capacity and export patterns will affect the supply of recycled fiber raw materials, the scale of second-hand clothing circulation, and inter-regional textile trade flows. If a more coordinated textile strategy takes shape within the region, the linkages between the raw material end and the finished garment end may also adjust accordingly.

Source: Coordinated Asia-Pacific textile strategy proposed | The Express Tribune · Originally published on 2026-10-02