The government should increase research and development (R&D) subsidy for textile from six to ten percent for at least two years, otherwise survival of the textile industry seems difficult, Dr Shahzad Arshad, chairman of Pakistan Cotton Fashion Apparel Manufacturers and Exporters Associations, said while talking to Business Recorder on Tuesday.
He said that the government wants to reduce the R&D subsidy to textile industry from six to three percent. He demanded of the government to either increase the R&D subsidy to 10 percent or at least maintain it at present 6 percent level otherwise it would be impossible to run the industry.
He said that the textile industry is earning about 76 percent of the foreign exchange. The government is paying more attention to the agriculture sector and neglecting the textile sector thus depriving the country of huge foreign exchange, he alleged.
He said that the government is paying 6 percent R&D subsidy to the readymade garments 'exporters' and three percent to the exporters of fabrics. The exports of the readymade garments have declined by 19 percent due to the weak position of Pakistan in the world market against its regional competitors like Bangladesh.
Readymade garments export stood at $106.590 million during January 2007 and at $132.260 million during December 2006 depicting a decrease of 19.41 percent or of $25.670 million.
Comments
Comments are closed.