Body to suggest reduction in cost of doing business: Federal textile board meets

A committee comprising textile manufacturers and exporters has been constituted to develop recommendations for reducing cost of doing business in textile and clothing sector by May 8, 2006.
This decision was taken at a meeting of Federal Textile Board chaired by the Federal Minister for Textile Industry Mushtaq Ali Cheema here on Thursday. Secretary Textile Syed Masood Alam Rizvi, Textile Commerce and leading textile manufacturers were also present on the occasion.
The eight-member committee will recommend short term and long term measures for considering in the forthcoming federal budget 2006 - 2007.
The committee will also suggest measures on capacity building, market-access, Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the USA and human resource development.
The committee can co-opt any member if feels necessary for the cause of reducing cost of doing business in textile and clothing sector.
Speaking on the occasion, Cheema said the committee would also make comparison of Pakistani textile industry with the other textile producing countries of South Asia like China, India and Bangladesh. The committee will also make the comparison of cost of doing business in other countries of the region.
He said those recommendations would be submitted to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet for approval.
Mushtaq Cheema further said the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would be requested to chair the next meeting of the board.
He hinted at incorporating some of the recommendations in the forthcoming federal budget.
To a question, he said the garment package had been approved and would either be announced in the budget or before it after the approval from the federal cabinet.
Giving some details, he said that that sector would get an incentive of six per cent for research and development in the first year and three per cent in the second year.
He said that package would improve overall competitiveness of garment sector which had been seriously hurt after the WTO regime.
To a question about the clean cotton policy, the minister said the cotton grower would get an additional amount of Rs 30 per maund on the supply of contamination free cotton. Similarly, the ginning factory will get additional Rs 30 per maund on ginning of clean cotton.