SIALKOT: At least 150 split leather processing industrial units out of total 260 units have been closed in Sialkot due to shortage of wet blue split leather coupled with a decline of $40 million in gloves value added exports from Sialkot with a reduction of $260 million from $300 million due to this critical situation.
This alarming situation is of grave concern among the local manufacturers, exporters and hundreds of thousands of the industrial workers directly and indirectly involved with split leather processing industries and manufacturing of value added export products.
Chairman Pakistan Gloves Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PGMEA) Muhammad Younas disclosed this while addressing a largely attended press conference at his office here Tuesday.
He said that the local markets of Sialkot had been suffering from acute shortage of wet blue split leather, adding that the value added gloves industry of Sialkot was dwindling as the situation was compounding every day in Sialkot and across Pakistan.
Chairman PGMEA revealed that the export oriented split leather industry has been suffering from great financial crisis due to the shortage of split leather in the market caused by the large scale export of the item.
Resultantly, the exports of split leather prepared products are declining daily.
During the press conference, split leather manufacturers including Dr. Shumail Barlas, Naseer A. Malik, Muhammad Ejaz Chaudhary, Alamgir Meyer, Dr. Abdul Shakur Mirza, Malik Akbar Awan and Syed Shehzada Iqbal Central President of Split Leather Manufacturers Group of Pakistan, expressed grave concern over the situation.
They urged the urged the federal government to immediately impose a ban on the export of split leather to save the local leather and split leather industry from severe financial crisis and to save thousands of employees engaged with this industry, besides, announcing a special package of incentives for a boom in split leather industry of Sialkot.
They said that immediate ban on the exports of split leather has become vital for saving the local leather and split leather industry.
They said that the split leather industry has been suffering from great financial crisis due to shortage of wet blue split leather in the markets resulting in continuous decline of split leather prepared products exports.
Former Chairman PGMEA Dr. Shumail Barlas said that with the help of the government the wet blue split leather industry could capture the huge market of China by producing best quality leather gloves through value addition.
In 2004-2005, the then Pakistan government had allowed the limited exports of wet blue split leather under its export policy which had left disastrous impact on this industry.
Following protest of the business community the government had imposed 20 percent duty on these exports, but the export and smuggling of wet blue split leather was still going on and unchecked, he added.
Syed Shehzada Iqbal (Central President of Split Leather Manufacturers Group of Pakistan), on this occasion, urged the federal government to make a sincere effort to pull the split leather industry from severe financial crisis and to save the thousands of the employees engaged with this industry.
Copyright PPI (Pakistan Press International), 2011
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