The latest hike in petroleum and electricity tariff would push out the textile exports from international market and the export target of 19 billion dollars would not be achievable.
These views were expressed by Mian Tahir Ishaque Bharara, chairman, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) while addressing a meeting of Association managing committees convenors here on Saturday.
He said that textile exports from Faisalabad has been facing depression and stagnancy since last December due to energy crisis of gas and electricity load shedding and national elections just concluded. Resultantly, the industrial production has significantly fallen down, which, in turn, caused decline in exports of textile products, he said.
In addition to above factors, the prices of petroleum products and electricity have now been upped by about 8 percent making the textile exports costlier cumulatively 10 percent.
This new burden on industrial manufacturing and exports would render the textile products further incompetitive in the international market and we would not be able to compete with our rivals -India, China and Bangladesh in international market, he continued.
On this occasion the Chairman exhorted the Convenors of Managing Committees to attain highest level of performance through better working and efficiency as also team work and wider involvement of the exporters through consultation.
Responding to the Convenor Accounts Committee Chairman, Sohail Bin Rashid Sheikh, Scrutiny Committee; Muhammad Yousaf, Office Management & Banking Committee Muhammad Hamid Javaid, Sales Tax & Income Tax Committee; Sohail Rahim Pasha, Research & Development Committee; Mian Arshad Gulzar, Action Committee for Energy; Mian Ahmad Kamal, Law & Order Committee; Muhammad Arif Suria, Dryport and Customs Committee; Rana Javaid Akhtar, Fairs & Exhibitions Committee; Muhammad Ahmad and Cordination, Legal & Protocol Committee Rehan Naseem Bharara assured the PTEA chairman optimum participation and involvement of members on individual and collective level to resolve their problems.
They also assured that not only the managing committees would be made pro-active, but also the image of the Association would be enhanced at all levels. The PTEA chairman thanked the Convenors for their interest and spirit of service to the community.