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The government has chalked out a comprehensive programme to protect the ailing textile units straddling fast to ultimate closures because of soaring cost of production and cotton and yarn shortage besides interrupted power and gas supply. In an exclusive interview with Business Recorder last weekend, Federal Textile Minister Rana Muhammad Farooq Saeed Khan said.
Comprehensive programme chalked out "My ministry will not let factories reach closure stage and would initiate a specific programme." He said the government's vision was clear to protect the textile industry - a country's economic backbone and its labourers by introducing a comprehensive programme to salvage the ailing units. He said the country's textile export growth was robust with 25 percent increase despite the recent flood devastation, adding that the government was keen to implement the maiden textile policy without any reluctance.
Rana Farooq said his ministry was also carrying out a programme to train the illiterate rural people with textile professional techniques across the country. "In Karachi alone, textile training courses have been started to let the rural people of interior Sindh learn modes of mechanical production and earn respectfully for their families," he added.
Scores of women are coming to get training from Thatta, Mirpurkhas and other parts of the province, he said, adding that factories subsequently employed them afterr they completed the courses. "Bringing the unemployed population particularly the rural women into manufacturing sector to contribute to the growth in gross development products is my ministry's primary vision," the federal minister pointed out.
To a question, he said, his ministry was committed to implementing the textile policy to reach $25 billion textile export target, despite hardships such as cotton and yarn shortage and soaring cost of production. He said power and gas shortage had put negative impact on the country's textile growth, while recent floods ravaged the standing cotton crop, which had created the raw commodity's scarcity.
Rana Farooq said if textile industry was given uninterrupted power and gas supply over the years, the industry's export growth would be over 25 percent. Banks also stopped lending loans to textile sector, resultantly the industry continues to fell into financial chaos, he said, adding that "given such challenges the government is ready to solve them."
Regretting the US lack of interest to construct Reconstruction Opportunity Zones in Pakistan, he said, if these zones were established the country's economic condition would improve. He said with giving training to unskilled labourers and improving the power and gas supply to the industry, Pakistan could easily upstage Bangladesh globally despite its phenomenal textile growth.
About legislation of Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) into law, the federal minister said the government should introduce the tax but in consultation with all the stakeholders. Rana Farooq said: "At present textile industry urgently needs financial support and imposition of RGST on zero-rated exporting sectors will further block their liquidity."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2010

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