The government has emphasised the need for industrial parks with investment in common energy generation and distribution and one window facilities, with a view to overcome the low productivity syndrome while reducing the cost of doing business.
In the light of Prime Minister''s Shaukat Aziz Export Plan approved on March 7, Minister for Textile and Industry Mushtaq Ali Cheema held a meeting here on Monday of all relevant ministries and organisations to streamline the deteriorating condition of the textile sector and formulate recommendations for submission to Prime Minister.
The meeting was attended by ministries of finance, food, agriculture and livestock, ministry of industries, production and special initiatives, science and technology, petroleum and natural resources, commerce, planning division, central board of revenue, board of investment, State Bank of Pakistan, Wapda, Enercon, Navtec, Tusdec, TDAP, higher education commission, and Pakistan central cotton committee representatives.
According to a press release of the ministry of textile and industry, vast range of issues like human resource development, raw material, cluster development programme, production, marketing, conformity assessment, research and development were discussed at length.
Other issues like cotton contamination, production of its varieties, skills levels, availability of skilled manpower, besides improving balance in production of textile chain and shifting the weight to weaving, dyeing and printing & garment sector, overcoming the problem of fragmentation, low productivity and low value-addition were extensively discussed during the meeting.
The need for an enabling/conducive fiscal/incentive regime was also underscored along with the need for tariff rationalisation, dedicated credit lines etc.
Furthermore, the meeting also emphasised on the need to concerted strategy to meet the changing marketing dynamics and incorporate joint ventures, product and market diversification, road shows, supply chain warehouses, R&D, and value-addition to target the high-end spectrum.
The textile minister constituted various task forces for implementation of the various programmes along with modalities for monitoring and follow-up.