The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has said that it is impossible to achieve the government’s textile export target of 35 billion US dollar under the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2015-18 without addressing the concerns of the industry.
The STPF has come under fire from the country’s textile industry with the APTMA claiming that there is no mention in the new trade policy of the textile sector which clocks more than 57 per cent of the country’s exports.
It said the competitiveness issues of the textile industry were yet to be addressed, including removal of incidentals of taxes on exports, drawback on local taxes and levies (DLTL), product focus market schemes, export refinance, payment of stuck up refunds, availability of all types of raw materials, cotton and manmade fibre at international competitive prices and cotton research through public-private partnership.
APTMA chairman, Tariq Saud said the Association had been suggesting the solutions with the objective to double the exports and attract new investment to the sector.
“But still, neither the STPF 2015-18 nor the Textile Policy for 2014-19 has introduced any incentive to achieve these objectives,” he regretted.
“Achieving the export target of 35 billion US dollar without these measures would be impossible,” Saud categorically said. He called for saving the domestic textile industry from the invasion of subsidised textile products.
Tariq said 15 per cent regulatory duty should immediately be imposed on synthetic yarns and fabrics meant for domestic consumption.
He urged the government to address the textile industry’s issues at the earliest, enabling it to undertake new investment initiatives so that it could produce export material in surplus quantity that would enable the industry to achieve export targets under the STPF.
