Exporters' issues to be resolved on priority

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Commerce and Textile/Chairman Federal Textile Board Pervaiz Malik on Saturday said that textile industry was making progress in the country despite various issues as its exports were increasing gradually.

Addressing the 7th meeting of reconstituted Federal Textile Board (FTB) here at Agriculture Directorate, he said the government was striving to resolve issue of current account deficit and put the textile industry on the way to progress and prosperity.

The federal minister also stressed the need to further extend cooperation between the FTB and associations to enhance the exports and for early resolution of the issues, faced by the textile industry.

He said that majority of the issues could be resolved by streamlining the rules and procedures, adding that the workable issues of exporters would be resolved on priority basis. "We have to put in place more arrangements regarding cost of production," he maintained.

Appreciating the contribution of textile exporters, Pervaiz Malik said that they were playing an effective role in economic progress and development in the country.

Later, he also issued directions to officials concerned to analyze the recommendations given by the members of association for devising a comprehensive report.

Addressing on the occasion, State Minister for Commerce and Textile Industry Haji Akram Ansari said that they were striving hard to achieve export targets and further steps were also being taken in this regard.

He also urged Federal Minister for Commerce and Textile Pervaiz Malik to form short term policy for resolving the issues of respective associations and said that it was needed to adopt value addition in all sectors from the raw material to its export, as it was necessary to reduce the cost of production.

Earlier, Federal Secretary for Commerce and Textile Industry Hassan Iqbal briefed the meeting about implementation status of Prime Minister Package of Incentives, recent amendments by the Economic Coordination Council (ECC) of the Cabinet to further facilitate the textile sector.

He also briefed about the Duty Drawback of taxes, exemption of custom duty and sales tax on cotton, zero rating of textile machinery, and withdrawal of custom duty on Man Made Fiber (MMF) other than polyester.

He said that from July 2016, five exports oriented sectors including textiles had been made part of zero rated tax regimes, adding that the zero rating facility was available on purchase of raw materials, intermediate goods and energy.

Duty free import of textile machinery was continued, he said and added the government reduced long term financing facility (LTFF) markup rates.

All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman Amir Fayyaz while appreciating Prime Minister Incentive package said the APTMA always supported export led growth package. The textile sector contributed 62 percent to the total exports of the country, he maintained.

The members of various associations also recommended to further improve the disbursement mechanism in duty Drawback of taxes scheme Under Prime Minister Package and for devising the medium to long term plan.