The present government is fully aware of the energy crisis and it is making sincere efforts to solve this issue at the earliest on war footing basis. Federal Minister for Textile Industry Rana Farooq Saeed Khan said this while addressing a gathering of traders, businessmen, industrialists and textile exporters in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) here on Sunday.
He termed textile as backbone of national economy and said that textile and Faisalabad are interdependent on each other. "Textile Ministry has been given to me as I belong to the city of textile" he said and assured that he would try his best to develop textile industry on modern scientific lines in consultation with all stakeholders.
He said that textile sector was contributing a major share in foreign exchange earnings. However, there was still room to further increase its share, he added. About prevailing energy crisis, he said that government was fully alive to it and serious efforts are being made to resolve this issue at the earliest. He said that a high level meeting has been convened at Islamabad on January 06 to discuss and resolve the burning issue of gas and electricity shortage. "We would take appropriate decisions", he said and assured that these decisions would also be implemented in its total earnest.
He also quoted his meeting with textile owners on December 26 last and said that most of the issues were settled in it. But riots erupted in the absence of credible links between him and textile sector. "All this happened at a time when situation was witnessing a positive improvement", he lamented.
He said that government believes that textile is the major sector that could give immediate support to the national economy. He said that government was going to donor agencies to get only 4-5 billion dollars.
"I assure government that textile sector alone could generate an additional income of $10-20 billion if complete infrastructure facilities were provided to the textile sector", he said and added that he is striving hard for the revival of textile sector and in this connection Nishatabad Powerhouse has been put into operation to end unscheduled load shedding.
He said that meeting of January 06 is exclusively dedicated to the issue of gas and electricity. "We would not only take appropriate decisions but also ensure 100 percent implementation of these decisions", he asserted.
Federal Minister for Textile Industry Rana Farooq said that issues relating to the resolution of R&D (Research and Develop-ment), decrease in banks' mark-up and access to various international markets for Pakistan textile products are also in the pipeline and would be resolved without any further delay. He said that a representative of the business community would also be inducted in the Body of Directors (BODs) of FESCO (Faisalabad Electric Supply Company) to streamline the issues pertaining to the load shedding of electricity.
He asked representatives of textile related organisations to attend a high level meeting of January 06 and give their positive suggestions in resolving the prevailing issues.
Earlier Mian Hamid Javaid president FCCI in his address of welcome explained the problems being confronted by the textile industry and demanded additional quota of electricity and gas to cater to the needs of its industries.
Mian Javaid Iqbal former president FCCI also addressed the meeting. Senior Punjab Minister Raja Riaz Ahmad, Mian Muhammad Latif former chairman FIEDMC , Mian Muhammad Yousuf chairman Pakistan Textile Exporters Association, and others representatives of trade and industrial bodies were also present.
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