A 9-member delegation of Spinners Committee of International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), Zurich, led by Andrew Macdonald, held a meeting on Monday with All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Chairman Ahmed Kuli Khan Khattak and senior members to discuss cotton and spinning industry.
According to a press release issued here on Monday, Binod Kumer Patodia, a delegate from India, said that Pakistan "is five years behind India" in cotton development. He said that Pakistan's Punjab and Indian Punjab are of same soil characteristics but in India production has increased manifold due to introduction of Bt. cotton.
Regarding cotton contamination he said that in India the problem has been controlled by carrying out basic research in development of seed-cotton and transfer of farming technology to growers through government and non-government organisations, besides modernising the ginning industry and developing necessary infrastructure.
Kuli Khan said that he would take up the matter regarding import of Indian cotton by land route with the government for achieving cost-competitiveness of Pakistan textile industry.
The delegation of Spinners Committee of ITMF comprised prominent spinners of the world. The basic purpose of their visit was to exchange views on bridging gaps among cotton growers, ginners and spinners and to discuss world cotton scenario.
Another aspect of the visit was to apprise about spinners' requirements with regard to quality of cotton in the changing world demand. Before Pakistan, the delegation has visited Uzbekistan and Australia and will next go to Brazil from here.
The delegation was informed that despite tremendous growth in the spinning sector and Pakistan being a key cotton buyer was now importing about 2 million bales annually from world sources, but lacks knowledge and experience of international cotton buying and still follows primitive system of cotton trading for local buying.
The Spinners Committee was requested to assist Aptma in enhancing awareness and know-how in international cotton buying.
Fritz Alexander Grobien of International Cotton Association, Liverpool, said that there was something wrong with the international pricing system of cotton as presently it is cheaper than what it was 20/30 years ago. He said that the system has not taken into account the increase in input costs and impact of inflation that has enhanced prices of all other commodities except cotton. He called for carrying out a serious study on the world cotton pricing system.
Andrew Macdonald strongly recommended that Pakistan must invest in ginning industry to improve the ginning operation to control contamination, and emphasised the need for pre-cleaning of cotton. He also strongly recommended that Pakistan should develop a centralised system for classification and grading of cotton to encourage quality and fair trading as is prevalent in the USA.
The delegation will also visit Lahore to meet the representatives of textile industry in Punjab.-PR
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