Textile bodies to launch drive against export of cotton, yarn from December 8

Six national textile Associations have decided to launch a "save value-added industry, save the country" nation-wide media awareness campaign starting from Faisalabad from Tuesday (tomorrow).
Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMEA), All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association (APTPMA), All Pakistan Sizing Industries Association (APSIA), All Pakistan Cotton Powerlooms Association (APCPA) and Save Powerlooms Movement (SPM) decided this here in a joint meeting on Sunday.
The participants decided to launch a nation-wide media awareness campaign from Tuesday (tomorrow) against export of cotton and cotton yarn, which was severely hit the value-added textile industry.
The participants contended that the export of cotton yarn is earning only five billion dollar, whereas the value-added industry could earn 25 billion dollars for the country, hence the government would have to decide whether it prefers to earn lower foreign exchange by allowing export of cotton yarn or to earn up to 25 billion dollars foreign exchange by supporting value added textile industry, which is only possible by imposing ban on the export of cotton and cotton yarn.
They further pointed out that the adequate supply of raw material at appropriate price is fundamental right of value added textile industry, which is providing livelihood to 2.5 million families.
It is also contended that if uninterrupted export of cotton yarn continued then imported industrial machinery worth 10 billion dollars would become scrap and the country would suffer huge losses.
They also demanded to end monopoly of polyester fibre and appealed to the competition control commission to intervene in the matter. Emphasising the importance of textile industry as baseline of national economy, Khurram Mukhtar said that the textile sector employed 40 percent of total workforce in the country and thousands of ancillaries depended on this sector. Unemployment would create industrial unrest and the labour would be constrained to come on the street and create a worse law and order situation in the country, he said.
They called upon the government to take all possible steps to resolve these problems, as without overcoming these issues the textile export target of $25 billion would be hard to achieve in the prevailing conditions.
They demanded immediate cognisance of this serious matter by the government failing which the textile industry as well as textile exports would collapse.
The meeting was attended by Mr Khurram Mukhtar, Chairman, Mr Sohail Pasha, Vice Chairman Pakistan Textile Exporters Association, Rana Muhammad Mushtaque Khan, Central Chairman Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association, Mian Aftab Ahmad, Chairman All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association, Rana Ikhlaq Ahmad, Chairman All Pakistan cotton Powerlooms Association (APCPA), Khalid Cheema, Ex-chairman APCPA, Choudhry Abdul Haq, Chairman Action Committee & Executive member APCPA, Waheed Khaliq Ramay, Chairman Council of Loom Owners, Mian Hamid Javed, Former President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mian Zahid Aslam, Former Chairman PTEA and representative of All Pakistan Textile Sizing Association.