The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) says that Pakistan's textile exports have fallen by 40% since 2006. There are many reasons for this sharp decline, but the security situation in the country is the most important of them all. Importing countries, APTMA says, are not granting visas which Pakistani exporters need for business travel while importers are not visiting Pakistan because of adverse travel advisories. Besides, some of Pakistan's main competitors now have preferentialrnaccess to markets that previously took a substantial volume of goods from Pakistan. Japan that has been a leading market for Pakistan's cotton yarn is one example. Pakistan's cotton yarn export to Japan has diminished over the years as Tokyo entered into free trade agreements with Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, etc.
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