Federal Textile Minister Ahmad Mukhtar has assured to continue the Research and Development (R&D) support to the textile sector for 2008-09. The government will consider it in an inter-ministerial co-ordination committee meeting likely to be held on July 10 in Islamabad to decrease the gas and electricity prices. The government is interested in solving problems of the textile sector.
He has also told representative of the textile sector to withdraw the call of strike on July 11, 2008. He was talking to the 40-member delegation of the Pakistan Apparel Forum, headed by Ajaz A. Khokhar, met him on Tuesday at Islamabad.
Former Prgmea chairman Ajaz A. Khokhar told Business Recorder that delegation asked the federal minister that Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA), Pakistan Knitwear and Sweater Exporters Association (PAKSEA) and Pakistan Cotton Fashion Apparels Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PCFA) are the real stakeholders and the apparel sector of the country shall only accept such proposals which meet the expectation of real stakeholders.
The government before finalisation of any proposal and policy the real stakeholders, the Pakistan Apparel Forum, should be taken into confidence. He appealed to the federal minister that real representative of the Pakistan Apparel Forum representative should be inducted in the inter-ministerial co-ordination committee. He also said the R&D support was utilised most effectively as our exports have increased by 37 percent in the countries where government has provided R&D support.
Khokhar said that the apparel industry currently provides direct employment to over 1 million people and about the same number of people are employed indirectly through vendor industries. If R&D support is discontinued then Pakistan will not only loose golden opportunity to gain major global share in coming years, but also thousands of workers will become unemployed as they can not be easily absorbed in any other industry.
He also proposed to the government that R&D support with enhanced rate should continue for further five years with extended markets. He said that a summary for extension of existing R&D support was deferred in the last meeting of the ECC held on July 1, 2008, adding the apparel sector is disagreed with this summary and need one rate of R&D Support one sector without any discrimination.
The proposed formula of R&D Support on slab basis, Khokhar said most of value-added garment exporters, almost 91 percent of the SME sector, had an annual export of $3 million or lower, only 4 percent of exporters fall under the category of $3 to $5 million annual exports, 3 percent fall under category of $5 to $10 million annual exports, whereas exporters under the category of $10 million and above are only 2 percent, he added.
Khokhar said that the significance and importance of the value-added sector can be gauged by the fact that one cotton bale exported earns $238 while on the other hand, clothing made and exported from one bale of cotton earns the foreign exchange of $1,600. Highlighting the importance of the garment sector, Khokhar said that "during the period of July till March 2008 exports of textile declined by 4.7 percent due to political instability, deteriorating law and order situation and judiciary turmoil.
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