The exporters made the request to Prime Minister’s Adviser on Commerce
and Textile Abdul Razak Dawood during the eighth meeting of Federal
Textile Board on Friday.
The government has so far doled out Rs28.1bn against total claims of Rs57bn
due under the special prime minister’s package.
An official privy to the meeting told Dawn that representatives of exporters
association informed the adviser that an amount of Rs7.4bn was also
outstanding for the first half of calendar year 2017.
He added that between July 2017 and June 2018, the outstanding cash
support of Rs20.7bn is still due on the government which it was yet to
release. In this period, only Rs2.6bn was released to exporters.
The board also took up the issue of pending refunds, possibility of removal
of duty on cotton import and rationalising duty on yarn imports.
Official statement issued after the meeting said that adviser acknowledged
the problems faced by the sector and ensure that it is taking steps to address
them.
Exporters also appreciated government’s decision to introduce separate gas
tariff for textile value chain and were satisfied that the price was kept at
Rs600 per mmbtu.
The exporters also highlighted other issues of pending rebates under PM’s
Package for Exporters, energy prices and issues faced by ginners, spinners
and value added sectors. They said that Pakistan’s textile exports have
become uncompetitive vis-à-vis regional countries particularly India and
Bangladesh due to these unresolved issues.
The adviser ensured representatives that sufficient funds against claims
would be released by the Federal Board of Revenue to boost exports in view
of the on-going trade and current account deficit.
The adviser requested that industry must import state of the art machinery
and adopt scientific methods in their value chain to become more productive
and competitive.
Source: The Dawn, Pakistan Saturday, 13 October 2018