Pakistan Hosiery Manufactures Association (PHMA) former Chairman Zubair Motiwala has urged the government to allocate funds for availability of yarn, water, power and infrastructure development in new trade policy to achieve higher exports in textile sector.
Addressing a joint press conference with PHMA Chairman Aslam Ahmed Karsaz on the budget 2005-06 on Thursday, he said with the withdrawal of several taxes including sales tax from textile sector, textile products would become around 20 per cent cheaper in local as well as international market. He said to produce export surplus government must improve infrastructure in the country. Water, power and availability of yarn were main ingredients to produce export surplus, he added.
Zubair Motiwala hoped that with the incentives given in the budget, textile sector would register a growth of 25 to 30 per cent that required better infrastructure. He urged the government to allow installation of power generation plants at industrial units and provide them gas connections. A fund should be allocated in new trade policy for purchase of power generation plants. Through that fund loans be provide for purchase of power generation plants through Islamic Banking or conventional banking sector to the industrialists.
In the Trade Policy, government should assure availability of yarn by giving incentives to yarn manufacturers. At present, yarn manufactures were exporting yarn to some of those countries that were competitors of Pakistan textile products in international markets. Whereas Pakistan companies facing yarn paucity, he added.
Zubair Motiwala suggested government should start scheme to provide clean water in industrial areas. He noted that out of 50-million gallon sewerage water produced in Site industrial area, 18 million gallons could be recycled for textile industry. He urged the government to allocate funds in trade policy to initiate sewerage treatment projects in industrial areas of the country.
He pointed pout last year total export of knitting sector was around dollars 1.2 billion and hoped it might cross dollars 1.8 billion this year.
He appreciated the government for presenting a bold and pragmatic budget 2005-06 and termed it an excellent budget for first time in the history of Pakistan that would prove a boom not only to the business and exports but also to all citizens of the country. He appreciated abolishing sales tax from textile sector.
Replying to a question, he said smuggled goods cost around 14 to 17 per cent to the smugglers and around dollars one to two billion cloths smuggled into Pakistan annually. The budgetary measure would help to reduce its smuggling as well as under invoicing, he added.
Replying to another question, he said high tariffs wreaked to the local synthetic industry as floodgates opened up for smuggled fabrics into the local market. Manufactures who had opted for latest weaving technology in water jet looms could not survive the onslaught of low priced smuggled synthetic fabrics, specially, from China after 2002. Majority of these looms were now inoperative, a national loss. Regarding question about ICI, the only PTA manufacturing in Pakistan, he said government has resolved the issue of sovereign guarantee of 15 per cent tariff extended to ICI. Now the government would pay Rs 3,000 million to ICI.
To stop smuggling, he said the association has proposed levy of Rs 250 duty per kg on import of cloth. The containers should be weighed on electrical weight machines and overweight containers should be seized. Aslam Ahmed Karsaz said the Export Development Fund (EDF) should be utilised for developing infrastructure in industrial area. This fund was not for developing roads in non-industrial areas, he added. He also urged the government to provide one window facility to industrial sector.
At present industrialists were dealing with 46 different agencies and those agencies were generally wasting industrials and exporters time. Referring to sates tax refund, he said in most of the case industrials were facing problems. In many cases, the government issued notices but no hearing has been conducted on the date. The cares were lingering on since long, he added.
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