LAHORE: Gohar Ejaz group has registered an unprecedented 11th consecutive victory in the annual elections of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) both at centre as well as zone levels.
Election results for year 2020-21 were announced in a press conference held at APTMA Punjab office on Saturday. According to the results announced by Muhammad Raza Baqir, Secretary General APTMA, Abdul Rahim Nasir has been elected unopposed as Chairman APTMA Punjab, followed by Amir Sh, Kamran Arshad and Kh Muhammad Anees as Senior Vice Chairman, Vice Chairman and Treasurer respectively and Asad Shafi, Mahfooz Elahi, Muhammad Abdullah, Zaeem Ahmed, Haroon Shahzada Elahi Sh. and Omar Latif Ch as members of the Zonal Management Committee.
Those who are elected unopposed for the Central Managing Committee included Atta Shafi Tanvir Sh, Gohar Ejaz, Adil Bashir, Naveed Gulzar, Aamir Fayyaz Sh, Imran Aslam and Humayun Qaiser from North Zone.
Similarly, Khurram Inam, Muhammad Jamil Qasim, Muhammad Faizanullah, Rafiq Ebrahim and Shoaib Dewan have been elected unopposed for the CMC from South Zone. Addressing the press conference, Gohar Ejaz, Patron-in-Chief APTMA, announced nomination of Adil Bashir for the office of Central Chairman APTMA. He congratulated the newly-elected leadership for Punjab and central zones. He expressed the hope that the newly-elected leadership would work hard to strengthen the export potential of the textile industry.
On this occasion, he also dilated upon the issues confronting the textile industry in the country, especially in the post-Covid-19 scenario. According to him, the $2 billion export capacity in the country is fully booked today. The textile industry was waiting for the announcement of a new five-year textile policy to install another 100 textile mills and add $6 billion to the country's exports. Similarly, he said, some 30 out of 100 sick units were ready to revive and add another $1 billion to exports subject to a supportive finance policy from the SBP. He said the industry was planning to invest in the downstream to increase exports of the country.
Regarding the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC), he said that the textile industry was an export-oriented industry which has neither passed on the incidence of cess to its foreign buyers nor it can be recovered from them retrospectively. He hoped that the authorities concerned would keep the ground realities in their mind and the grave consequences of the levy on exports.
He said the textile exports have already registered an impressive growth of 14 per cent for the month of July 2020. He said a drop in the COVID-19 cases in Pakistan had resulted in the revival of export orders from around the world. The exports are likely to boost further due to a pro-industry approach of the government, he added.
He further stated that it was highly encouraging that about 77% of textile exports from Pakistan were from value added sector. He hoped that the expected investment of $3 billion in value added segments of textile industry would fetch additional export earnings of about $6 billion and three million additional jobs.
He appreciated the government for supporting the industry during the spread of COVID-19 and ensured speedy payment of sales tax refunds through the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). He also lauded the role of State Bank of Pakistan for extending financial support to the industry in an extraordinary situation that helped the industry to regain strength.
Gohar has expressed the hope that the government would continue with the supply of electricity at 7.5 cents per kWh and gas at $6.5 per MMBTU during the fiscal year 2020-21. He said the industry would never disappoint the government in its efforts of boosting exports and earning precious foreign exchange for the country, creating jobs and attracting new investment in the sector.
Both Adil Bashir and Rahim Nasir also spoke on the occasion. They presented their vision for upsurge in exports and thanked the leadership for showing their confidence towards them. They assured members of the Association to continue protecting the economic interests of the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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