The textile exporters’ fraternity has suggested various measures to the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) for the revival of sinking indigenous industry.
The roundtable conference on Pakistan’s largest industrial sector’s revival held under the chair of Vice President FPCCI Gulzar Firoz on Thursday, has formulated recommendations to increase textile exports for the PML-N government to make part of policy decisions in the early days of its tenure.
Firoz while announcing the recommendations said that the Nawaz Sharif government would be strongly suggested to lobby in the European Union and USA to extend Pakistan additional market access and allow GSP Plus. He said that on request to the exporters DTRE (duty and tax remission on exports) and DLTL (drawbacks on local taxes and levies) laws should be reframed, textile ministry should not be abolished but if necessary a strong textile division should be established, commercial counselors should be trained at FPCCI before their posting broad and their performance report must be sent to the FPCCI every month.
He said that zero-rating on five sectors of exports must remain continued. Gulzar Firoz said that security and energy issues were being faced by all the industrial sectors in Pakistan and the new government should resolve these issues on a priority basis for economic growth.
Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, leading textile exporter and former advisor to prime minister on textile, said that Pakistan was manufacturing all the world’s top brands. He said that this sector should be provided a conducive-environment as the cost of manufacturing was rising by 25 percent in wages alone.
Baig said that Pakistani textile products had better prospects considering the trade with India. He suggested that the textile ministry should be continued under the new setup or at least be made part of a ministry headed by a federal secretary.
Baig said that there should be no further tax burden on this sector and the government should impose further taxes on those people who were not under the tax net. Dawood Jhakura, former FPCCI vice president, said that due to security concerns foreign buyers of readymade garments were reluctant to place fresh orders. He said that continuous protest calls by different political parties had not only damaged the image of the country, but also hampered production activities.
He highlighted that recently Bangladesh had received notices regarding labour laws, which would jeopardise its US GSP plus status. He urged the government to revisit the labour laws to avoid such notices. A representative of towel, bed sheet and garment industries said that the government needs to prioritise to save the remaining industry.
Prominent exporter and former senior Vice President KCCI, Hanif Lakhani of Lakhani Textiles stressed the need for product mix and suggested to increase the range of products. He informed the participants that the government had announced rules of DTRE, under which raw material imports were exempted from liabilities. He said that the Customs had stopped the facility on the argument that the scheme was only available for exporters having 100 percent manufacturing units.
He requested the FPCCI to take a stand because the scheme was for all the exporters, even those engaged in value-addition. Lakhani said that billions of rupees were stuck in shape of rebate of duty and local taxes, despite clear instructions provided under the textile policy 2009-14 that the same should be cleared instantly.
Prominent textile exporter, Shaikh Manzar Alam said that the Pakistan has lost over an amount of $70 billion on USA’s war on terror and it was our due right to demand full market access to US market.
Former Chairman Pakistan Bedwear Exporters Association, Naqi Bari said that the textile sector was the largest employment generation sector in Pakistan which needs to be saved from disaster and it’s the high time to demand greater market access from USA. He said that government should hire lobbyist in USA and EU for lobbying. He warned that country is going backward by exporting raw material.
Vice President FPCCI, Rukhsana Jahangir said that the SME sector was facing immense difficulties in availing bank financing. She said that contamination free cotton should be produced instead of importing raw cotton. Asif Maroof criticised the role of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) that it had failed to project local products in foreign markets. Dr Shahzad Arshad, chairman standing committee of FPCCI on textile, said that due to economic slowdown the value-added sector had resorted to 40 percent job cuts.
He also criticised the role of commercial councilors in foreign countries. Siddique Shaikh, Chairman, FPCCI Standing Committee on R&D, at the end of the meeting said that the textile sector should identify 10 potential countries where the FPCCI would send experts to train commercial councilors, which would help in boosting the country’s exports.
