Italy will provide technical and marketing assistance to Pakistan for enhancing quality and standard of its value-added textile products. This was said by Italian Trade Commissioner Dr Marco Pintus at a meeting with the members of the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA) here on Tuesday.
Referring to vast opportunities existed between the two countries to initiate bilateral schemes in the field of textile sector, he said that on the recommendations of PHMA and other such textile associations, textile exporters would be given Italy's visa on a priority basis in only 15 working days.
However, he made it clear that each applicant, interested in getting visa, should apply at least a month earlier so that the difficulties in this connection could also be sorted out within the stipulated time.
He said though there were some problems in its embassy in Islamabad for the lack of required number of staff, however it had no such problems in Karachi consulate. Applicants from Punjab and NWFP provinces would be given visas in Islamabad, while Sindh and Balochistan applicants were required to apply in Karachi consulate, he added.
The Italian Trade Commissioner further said that a seminar in the local hotel would be held on November 26 to introduce the Italian manufacturing companies of the textile machinery. He maintained that the seminar was primarily aimed to acquaint the textile industrialists with the modern manufacturing methodologies to scale down the cost of production with improved quality and standard.
Speaking next Central Chairman of PHMA Naqi Bari said that his association welcomed the eight Italian manufacturing companies of textile machinery in the seminar, and hoped it would help the local manufacturers compete with their regional competitors in the world markets. He observed that due to suspension of duty-free market access to the European markets since 2005, Pakistan had lost its huge share of export of textile products and was still on the path of continued decline.
He demanded of the Italian Trade Commissioner for considering Pakistan's weak position in European markets and should allow its textile export under the least developed countries category, as about 48 such had been enjoying this facility. Naqi maintained that due to decline in the textile exports, several units had closed down leading to unprecedented ratio of unemployment had risen in the country.
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