Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA) SZ, has welcomed the formation of Export Promotion Leather Council (EPLC) in the Trade Policy 2012-15. In a statement, Chairman PTA (SZ) Amanullah Aftab said that on the recommendations of the ministry of commerce, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has okayed the formation of EPLC under Strategic Trade Policy Framework 2012-2015 and gave the leather sector a 'priority status' with a view to enhance the leather sector exports to three billion dollars.
The formal approval for the formation of the Leather Council, which is being established on the patron of Indian Leather Council would be given in the upcoming Cabinet Committee's meeting, Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim had announced the formation of EPLC at a meeting held in Karachi with a delegation of the PTA led by its Central Chairman Agha Saiddain.
Aftab said that the incentives to the leather sector is the need of the hour particularly at this juncture when leather exports are declining fast due to various reasons including energy crisis and shortage of raw material due to the smuggling of livestock. Aftab further endorsed the ministry of commerce demand in the new three-year Strategic Trade Policy Framework to hand over the control of Export Development Surcharge (EDS) to the ministry of commerce. It was pertinent to mention that presently the EDS was being controlled by the Ministry of Finance, he said.
It is to be noted that the government had stopped funding the local industry through EDS to participate in international industry fairs. The government collected 0.25 per cent on account of EDS, which amounted to about Rs 250 million annually, he added. According to him, the minister also informed the delegation that PM had agreed to transfer the total EDS fund to the Ministry of Commerce so that it could be used for the development of exports which was the real purpose of this fund.-PR
Comments
Comments are closed.