The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) is hope of adding $13 billion to the country’s exports in the next three years if the potentials in this sector are realized. In a statement, APTMA Chairman SM Tanveer says that growth in the textile sector will not only added a huge sum of foreign exchange, but will also create 13 million jobs in the country. Currently, the country is paying at 8 percent mark-up on foreign loans which is an extra burden on the national exchequer. Tanveer has also pointed out the increasing cost of doing business in Pakistan because of which hundreds of textile units have been closed down. The rising cost of electricity tariff has put additional pressure on the industry which is not able to afford even Rs 13 per unit, but has to pay Rs 18 per unit electricity a month. Earlier during his meeting with businessmen, the prime minister had ordered reduction in power tariff by Rs 2.15 per unit while the textile industry associations were seeking the government to lower the tariff to reduce the cost of production and compete with the regional competitors in the international market. The exports have been facing declining trend for the last one year, as the cost of production has made it difficult for the industrialists to pay salaries to their employees.
There is urgent need to announce a package for the textile industry as it is lagging behind its competitors in the region. The government has imposed Rs 200 per MMBTU gas infrastructure development cess, but has failed to implement the recommendations of the Senate Committee on Textile Industry on the cess issue. According to Muneer, the government should impose 20 percent regulatory duty on import of raw material for the textile sector which will help revive the ailing industry. He claims that subsidized textile products from India and China at import duty of merely 5 percent are available in the Pakistan whereas the competitors have imposed 30 percent duty in their respective countries.
As a matter of fact, textile industry is the biggest earning sector in Pakistan, but falling textile export is a matter of concern for the government. The policy makers in Pakistan must revisit the troubled areas to find a solution to the problem as the domestic textile industry has a potential to earn billions of rupees per annum. The textile exporters also need incentives to enhance the volume of industry in the country. It is also noted that some black sheep in the business community are only interested in rebates and they have no interest in enhancing actual exports from the country.