Encouraging investments: government urged to ensure congenial environment for textile sector

Acting Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma), Shahzad Ali Khan has urged the government to ensure congenial growth environment for the textile industry to help it meet opportunities of investment and exports, which would also create employment opportunities in the country.
Shahzad said fear of withdrawal of zero-rate regime under the proposed Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST), coupled with energy shortage, is hampering smooth sailing of textile industry. These fears are impeding growth in a situation when textile industry is in the process of cotton lifting, he added.
He feared that withdrawal of zero-rate regime would push the industry back to the era of flying invoices and refunds stuck-up. Government policymakers would be doing no service to the textile industry by withdrawing zero-rate regime, as it has already experienced the same with zero result, he maintained.
He ensured that Aptma is fully supportive to the idea of documentation of economy to lessen the tax burden on corporate sector. But withdrawal of zero-rate regime is not acceptable for the industry, as 80 percent of its production is exported in one or the other form.
Acting Chairman Aptma also said shortage of gas supply to the industry's Captive Power Plants (CPPs) is adding fuel to the fire, as industry is busy in 'fire-fighting with the situation' while putting its investment plans on the backburner. He added that uninterrupted supply of gas to textile industry would not only enable the country meet export target of $25 billion by year 2015, but would also generate employment opportunities in the country. Concluding, Shahzad said continuity of zero-rate regime and availability of gas to textile industry are challenges for the government, demanding prudent policymaking in the days to come to encourage fresh investment in the sector.