Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that textile industry was the core industry of Pakistan and the textile vision adopted by government had provided an environment for substantial development of the sector.
Talking to a delegation of All Pakistan Textile Manufacturing Association (Aptma) here at Prime Minister House on Saturday, he urged the private sector to focus on value addition.
He asked them to do research and study the world trends and the best practices adopted world over with a view to increase competitiveness of their products to capture better share of market.
He said government's policies of deregulation, privatisation and liberalisation coupled with sustainability of policies and transparency in procedures had created an upsurge in economy and provided conducive atmosphere for the private sector and added that private sector needed to strive more to take full advantage of the government policies.
Prime Minister asked textile manufactures to conduct analysis to identify comparative advantages and come up with concrete suggestions for the cotton policy.
He appreciated the innovations and use of new technology adopted by the textile industry and identified some areas of concern. He said the ginning industry had not been adequately developed, and there was a need to produce contamination free cotton and produce skilled manpower having the kind of expertise required for development of textile industry.
Apprising the delegation of the recent steps of the government to further develop the textile industry, the Prime Minister said government had decided to pay premium on clean cotton directly to the industry, which would promote production of clean cotton.
He said government had also decided to take steps to increase core competence in textile ministry by hiring experts, which would go a long way in further developing the important sector of the economy.
The problems being faced by textile industry due to shortage of gas also came under discussion. The Prime Minister listened to industry's problems and assured them of government's possible support to resolve them.
The delegation appreciated the investment friendly policies and the persistent attention and support provided by the Prime Minister to promote textile industry in Pakistan.
The meeting was attended among others by Mushtaq Ali Cheema Minister for Textile Industry and senior officials.