Adil Butt and Salamat Ali have been elected unopposed as the chairman and the vice-chairman respectively of the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA), North Zone, for 2004-05.
According to a press release issued here on Tuesday, PHMA zonal committee, in its meeting held in Lahore, also approved the results of the elections.
Adil Butt, in a statement, termed the knitwear industry as number one in the ranking of export-products with more than $1.5 billion earned during last year.
He called for giving a boost to the export sector by adopting diversified marketing techniques and extending practical support to the industry, and asked the knitwear and garment exporters to prepare themselves for meeting the challenges of WTO so that momentum of exports could not only be maintained, but also new opportunities be fully exploited.
He asked the exporters not to worry about threats of the WTO; rather the hidden benefits should be explored and utilised, and also stressed the need for adopting new technology so that Pakistan's exports may be able to cope with the emerging challenges in international arena.
Adil Butt urged the government to undertake thorough research and also brief the SMEs of the details of such challenges.
Salamat Ali, the newly elected vice-chairman of the Association, highlighted the problems of small units particularly in Faisalabad and Sialkot.