The Pakistan Cloth Merchants Association (PCMA) has said that any restriction on export of yarn will throw Pakistan out of the export market and exports will receive a serious jolt.
The former Chairman of PCMA, Ghulam Ahmed Ismail, said in a statement that about a decade ago, the government had imposed export duty on the export of yarn, which resulted in a big setback to the spinning units and the country lost a lucrative export market.
The foreign buyers of Pakistani yarn were unhappy over the government's decision and later boycotted exports from Pakistan when the restrictions were lifted, he said, and added the effects of the unwise decision of the government were felt for many years.
Ismail said that today the Pakistani spinners were exporting not only 100 percent cotton yarn, but a variety of yarn products, including those blended with cotton, which not only earned precious foreign exchange for the country, but also helped the country to cross the export target of 12 billion dollar.
He advised the government to refrain from imposing any duty on export of yarn on one pretext or the other in the present circumstances when the textile industry was preparing itself for a fierce competition in the export market with the start of quota-free era from 2005.
He said that the decision would not benefit the country, rather it would help our competitors India, China, Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia to capture the market vacated by Pakistan.
He expressed the hope that the government would consider all pros and cons of the issue and would take a decision, which was only in the best interest of the country.