The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) has started preparation for its upcoming meeting with federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the remaining part of the textile package. Industry sources said on Tuesday that the association was busy with serious preparations to persuade the government to ensure a congenial environment to reduce the high cost of doing business.
"The continuous drop in textile exports especially during September is a major source of concern both for the industry and the government and both sides are likely to agree to restore the viability of industry," said one source. Official data shows that textile industry exports have plunged both in terms of quantity and value in September against the corresponding period following high and unbearable cost of energy, particularly in the Punjab.
Some 70 percent of the textile industry is located in Punjab and a high cost of energy has hit hard its viability and the capacity to produce the exportable surplus. The industry sources said several meetings had so far taken place to bring up factual comparisons of cost of doing business in Pakistan comparing with the regional competitors, particularly India. They said the earlier measure of imposing a 10-percent regulatory duty on the import of raw materials had been translated positively in the domestic market.
But they dispelled an impression that they would go for holing another black day in favour of the remaining part of the package, saying that the government had grasped the gravity of the situation and both Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had agreed to the association's viewpoint. "Therefore, hopes are high that the government will announce the remaining part of the textile package before the end of the current month," the sources added.
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