Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industry and Investment, Abdul Razzak Dawood Wednesday said customs/regulatory duties on the import of raw materials and inputs used by textile sector would be brought down to zero percent, while cotton production will be increased to 15 million bales for the revival of textile sector.
"We want trade with India, Afghanistan, Iran and all regional countries," said Dawood while talking to mediapersons. Different kinds of duties on import of raw materials are increasing the cost of business/production and the government will bring them down in the next two years to promote the export sectors, he added.
The advisor said that Pakistan''''s share in international trade dropped from 1.93 percent to 1.65 percent, besides the country lost share in the regional trade which is not a good sign.
He further said that during the upcoming visit to China, Pakistan will ask for market access, but clarified that the country will not sign China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Phase-II as the government needs time to go into details. "We want to consult all stakeholders before signing FTA with China," Dawood added.
The government would seek China''''s support for research, poverty alleviation, innovation, industrial cooperation and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
He further said that Pakistan will approach Japan and Canada for duty free market access, which it is currently giving to Bangladesh. He further said that ideally there should have been no duties on import of raw materials for exports sectors and that is why the government slashed duties on cotton yarn.
He also announced to introduce a five years policy for textile, but did not give exports target, while saying it would be shared in next two to three months. He said that de-industrialisation is taking place. When textile sector representatives opt for other businesses, it is not a good sign, he added.
The advisor said that Pakistan was producing 14 million cotton bales which came down to 10.8 million bales. Cotton was being grown on 3 million hectares of land which came down to 2.7 million hectares resulting in drop in production. At one stage Pakistan was exporting cotton, but now it is importing it, said the advisor, adding that Pakistani cotton is among the most contaminated and hence being sold at discounted price. "We will take cotton production back to 15 million bales to earn billions of dollars," he vowed. He said that APTMA is not giving fair price to ginners and the reason they are quoting is contaminated cotton.
He said that the government reduced gas prices for the five export-oriented sectors, which has brought down their cost of production.
He further said that the government has allowed export of one million metric tons of surplus sugar without any subsidy which would bring around $300 million foreign exchange. He further said that during the last five years, subsidy of Rs 23 billion was given to utility stores, but the government can no longer afford it.
He further said utility stores have to pay Rs 11 billion to people. He said that procurement has been stopped for a few days; however another chance would be given to utility stores for revival.
He further said that government will depend on engineering, chemical and IT sectors'''' exports and that is why it has been decided to review Engineering Development Board.
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