Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Friday that talks with the United States to set up 'reconstruction zones' in the earthquake-hit areas and some tribal areas of NWFP and Balochistan were in an advance stage, which, when materialised, would provide duty-free access in the US markets to products to be manufactured in the proposed zones.
He said this in the ground-breaking ceremony of Faisalabad Garment City, a project of the Ministry of Textile Industry. He said that the government was trying to provide market access to Pakistani manufacturers in different world markets, and negotiations were under way with the European Union, apart from signing Free-Trade Agreements with different countries.
He said that in the globalise competitive environment, only those businesses could survive which would have competitive edge against their competitors. He urged the textile industrialists to concentrate on achieving excellence in competition, which was possible only through manufacturing quality products at competitive rates.
"Globalisation is a reality which our businessmen should accept, and strive for meeting the same." He asked the industrialists to focus on value-addition, which could make visible difference in their business operation. "Our businessmen need to focus on improving the manufacturing techniques so as to reduce the cost of doing business and improving quality of products," he said.
He said the concept of 'Garment City' was a "flattered factory", growing the world over mainly because of high cost of land. He said that in the Trade Policy 2003, it was envisaged that three Garment Cities would be set up--at Faisalabad, Lahore and Karachi. He said these Garment Cities would provide state-of-the art facilities to garment manufacturers, helping to increase the country's exports.
The Prime Minister said that according to a professional study conducted by Independent Globalised Consultant, the country was fetching investment due to reduction in cost of doing business. However, labour productivity is low. He added that the government was making efforts on training of labourers. He also said in the rating of Transparency, income tax had the best rating, which was possible due to introduction of Universal Self-Assessment Scheme.
"Our policy is deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation, and we are moving in the right direction," he added. About the textile sector, he said that the government had taken various steps to better the textile sector, and huge amount was being given under the head of Research and Development (R&D). He said that people were annoyed because of finishing sales tax because it stopped the refund process.
He announced the setting up of a 'women university' and a big hospital in Faisalabad. Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool said that because of the government's economic policies, not only inflow of foreign investment had increased but also the taxation system had improved significantly. He said the government was paying attention to training of workers and Navtec was imparting training to 75,000 people this year. Federal Minister for Textile Industry Mushtaq Ali Cheema said the garment cities in Lahore, Karachi and Faisalabad would help increase the country's exports. "For overcoming the shortage of trained labour force, the government has already embarked on a comprehensive programme. The garment sector could increase its exports through value-addition," he said.
Faisalabad Garment City Chairman Sheikh Mukhtar in his address of welcome highlighted salient features of the project. Earlier, Shaukat before his address asked the participants to offer Fateha for eternal peace of those who lost their lives in the tragic incident at Karachi on Thursday. The participants offered Fateha.
Talking to reporters, the PM condemned the Karachi bomb blasts and termed it a cowardly and inhuman act. He said that elements involved in the tragic incident could no more remain at large, and would be brought to justice. He added that investigations were underway and culprits would be taken to task.
He said that before the PPP procession government officials had held a meeting with PPP leaders and apprised them about security concerns. He said that PML and its allied parties would contest the elections and win the same on the basis of their performance. There was election atmosphere in the country; presidential election had already been held, while general elections would be held according to schedule in a free, fair and impartial manner, he said, adding that the Karachi incident would not cause any effect on polls.
He said that caretaker governments would be in place at federal and provincial levels after November 15, and added that interim government had already been set up in NWFP.
He said that national assembly and provincial assemblies were completing their constitutional term first time in the history of the country. He said the PML had the best candidates for the forthcoming general elections, and "we will Inshah Allah win the polls".
When asked about his political future, he said he would contest the National Assembly election and would obey party discipline. On statements by ministers about the possible martial law in the country, if the Supreme Court decided against the election of President Pervez Musharraf in uniform, he said that the government respected the apex court and "we had always accepted its decisions". However, he said, 'according to our lawyers, our case in strong."