LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tuesday, while expressing solidarity with All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), urged the government to give relief package to the textile industry that has almost collapsed.
In a statement issued here, the LCCI president Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that the high cost of doing business has not only ousted Pakistani textiles from the international marketplace but is also jacking up the graph of unemployment.
The LCCI president said that it is not the textile industry only that is suffering because of high cost of doing business and non availability of energy but almost every sector is facing same situation that is giving a bad name to the government.
“The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry believes that the government would listen to the grievances of the textile industry and come up with package of incentives sooner than later”, He added.
He said that the examples are there that the various countries took immediate measures whenever they felt that their certain economic sectors were not giving desired results. Therefore, the government must not waste any further time in pondering over the issues and give relief package to the textile industry.
The LCCI President said that being largest export-oriented sector of the country and second largest job provider to the skilled and unskilled manpower, its closure would result in disastrous results for the national economy.
He said that policy makers should realize the fact that industrialists and hundred and thousands workers would not only be the only loser but the government would also lose huge revenue being collected from textile industry.
He said that at least 400 textile mills across the country have decided to close down their production today (October 14) to record protest against the soaring cost of doing business which would not only occur loss of billions to the national exchequer but would also give a bad message to the foreign investor and they would shelve their plans of investment in Pakistan.
“How textile industry can survive in the presence of high power tariff, gas infrastructure development cess (GIDC) and unavailability of energy” the LCCI President questioned.
He said that at present when regional countries experiencing rapid economic growth, fall in Pakistan’s textile exports should be an eye opener for the policy markers.
Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that industrial sector needs cheap energy but to keep its wheel moving but situation is quite discouraging in this regard.
He said cost of gas for industry rose to $6.7/million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) and $7.7/mmBtu for captive power plants as compared to $4.2 (India), $3.1 (Bangladesh) and $4.2 (Vietnam).
Electricity tariff for the industry is 15 cents/unit as compared to 8 to 9 cents/unit in the neighbouring and competing countries. He said that at present when we are talking to enhance the exports, “black day” of textile industry would reverse the government’s efforts aimed at economic revival of the country.
