All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman Syed Ali Ahsan
has said that a competitive and viable domestic textile industry was in the
larger interest of the textile value chain.
In a statement issued on Friday, he said that the present regime has rightly
announced and implemented initiatives to ensure regionally competitive
energy, both electricity and gas, to the exporting industry. Consequently,
viability as well confidence of the businessmen/industrialists and
prospective investors has restored.
Ali Ahsan said the industry, all across the value chain, has started preparing
a policy framework, under the guidance of Advisor to Prime Minister on
Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood and Chairman Task Force Dr Salman Shah
to achieve an export target of $50 billion in five years, which will attract huge
investments and create 15 million direct workforce in line with the manifesto
of the present government.
Chairman APTMA dispelled the impression that export of yarn was
impacting the value added industry and stated that it has declined by 24%
percent in quantity terms in the month of March.
More than 80 percent lower count yarn (below 20) being exported was not
in demand of the domestic industry. Today, he said, the kind of yarns
required by the domestic industry was available in abundance for their
consumption. Any price increase in such yarns was linked with international
cotton prices.
He said some mills were designed for export production and cannot be forced
to sell locally amidst long unreliable credit sales and previous bad debts in
the knitwear sector.
He said these mills have explored new markets, made customers and
established their brands with lot of efforts of many years of hard work and
consistency of quality. Such mills should not be forced to close down their
operations, he added.
Source: The Nation, Pakistan Monday, 22 April 2019