Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has invited the value-added sector, Aptma, PCGA and other stakeholders to resolve the cotton yarn issue on Tuesday, May 25, because the meeting with the Textile Minister proved a futile exercise.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Muhammad Aasim Shah, a leader of Value-added Textile Forum (VTF) North Zone, Muhammad Ahsan Shah, Yariq Sajid, Muhammad Tayyab and Zulfikar Ali appealed to the government not to made the value-added a scapegoat and not to cut the throat of 18.1 million workers and not to surrender exports of 10 billion dollars for only 2 billion dollars.
Aasim said that Pakistan had exported 40 percent more raw cotton than preceding years; 35 percent more yarn was exported while the textile made-ups exports declined by 15 percent.
The VTF leader said that 1.2 million workers of power looms and dyeing, finishing, packing had lost their jobs only in two cities of Multan and Faisalabad. He said that spinners had exported cotton yarn at $2.34 when the ginned cotton was available at Rs 3600. Now cotton rate had surged to Rs 7000 per maund but spinners are exporting their yarn at $2.11. He said that sugar and rice mafia-like people were creating crisis for the nation to mint money at the cost of other sectors.
They reiterated their demand for increasing the regulatory duty on cotton yarn from 15 to 30 percent for the revival of value-added sector. They said that there was no truth in the claim that export of cotton yarn had stopped due to levy of 15 percent regulatory duty while the fact is that yarn is still being exported even today and one can witness from dry ports that some of the leading groups are still exporting yarn which were imported under DTRE scheme and they are minting money at the cost of gagging the local value-added industry.
They said that Bangladesh, India and other countries were among the signatories of WTO regime but Bangladesh imposed ban on the export of Jute to save its own industry. Even it had violated the agreement with Pakistan. Similarly, India refused to export cotton and cotton yarn even on the highest rate for survival of the value-added industry.
They said that the government had taken this step in the larger national interest to give stability to value-added sector which provides jobs to 18.1 million people and contributes 65 percent in country's exports. He asked: why did Indian textile millers and cotton ginners did not observe strike on the imposition of complete ban on the export of raw cotton? Similarly, no strike was observed in Bangladesh.
They said that fact is that the economy is mainly based on textiles and in textiles only value added sector has a potential to take out the country from economic crisis and to balance the trade deficit. Protecting the rights/interests and supporting of value added sector is a right decision of the present government which would emerge with good effects.
They said that all associations attached with VTF fully support the government policies, which is indeed in national interest. They said that spinners had created confusion by claiming that textile industry was on strike while the fact is that a few spinners had observed verbal strike and the units considered as textile mills producing value added home textile products. Mills like Gul Ahmed , Al Karam, Chenab etc are functioning.
Similarly fabrics manufacturers, bedwares, towels, hosiery, garments etc are regularly doing work. They said that it is also important to mention that the government of Pakistan is spending the billions of rupees on subsidising fertiliser with aim that farmers would have low cost of crops and people of Pakistan would be benefiting from this incentive. "But when we export the raw material (cotton and cotton yarn) it means we are passing the benefit/subsidy to foreign industry but not to our domestic industry and the people of Pakistan.
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