Two governments, three prime ministers and eight years later, there’s little
‘change’ in the state of the economy, although Umar is now the government’s
point man for economic development in Islamabad.
In 2020, the industry continues to look towards Islamabad for patronage in
the shape of concessions, subsidies and SROs. Some demand favours to
enhance export earnings while others point out the need to placate foreign
investors. Some demand subsidies for the sake of farmers, others seek
handouts in the name of unskilled workers.
They love government intervention only when it suits them. Subsidised
electricity and gas for industrialists are good, but price checks on medicines
aren’t. Merchant energy markets are welcome, but so are capacity payments.
Taxes are bad, but taxpayer-funded public-sector projects aren’t as long as
they lift the profits of cement makers.
Speaking about his years in the private sector, Umar had said that instead of
running his corporation, he’d end up spending most of his time badgering
the powers that be in Islamabad.
Now that the shoe is on the other foot, he and his fellow ministers should try
to discourage the kind of rent-seeking that he set out to eliminate eight long
years ago.
Shahid Sattar
Executive Director, Aptma
The investment outlook seems bright for the textile sector in 2020. The new
textile policy focusing on growth and innovation is about to be announced.
The textile sector is willing to invest in manufacturing infrastructure and
upgrade production units to deliver on the aim of enhanced exports with the
government’s determination to reduce the cost of doing business and
eradicate bottlenecks in the policy implementation. The textile sector
envisions an increase in textile exports from $13.33bn (2018-19) to $50bn
(2029-30) with an additional cumulative investment of $29.54bn in the next
ten years.
To achieve the targeted exports, business-friendly policies should be ensured
for the industry to grow and attain the increased targets on a yearly basis.
There is a will and potential in the textile industry to play its role in the
economic turnaround. The value-added garment sector has a huge capacity
to grow along with synthetic clothing since the world market for these fibres
is enormously increasing as consumer preferences shift away from natural
fibres like cotton.
However, there are a few policy impediments. Correcting them will further
facilitate export-based industries. These include the revival of zero-rating for
export sectors, long-term tariff policy for raw material imports,
rationalisation of regulatory duties on imports of synthetic yarns, efficient
system of refunds to improve liquidity, reduction in the turnover tax to one
per cent and the availability of credit facilitation schemes like the long-term
financing facility and the duty and tax remission scheme to indirect
exporters.
Source: The Dawn, Pakistan Saturday, 04 January 2020