Value-added textile Forum has rejected the 15 percent regulatory duty on export of yarn as half-hearted and insufficient and have reiterated its demand of imposing 30 percent regulatory duty. The forum has also demanded that weekly gas supply to spinners on Tuesday and Wednesday should be diverted to value-added textile sector.
In an emergent meeting of the forum here held Thursday night, the trade association's leaders expressed huge disappointment over ineffective 15 percent regulatory duty on export of yarn and said this would not have the desired results.
Chairman Pakistan Textile Exporters Association Khurram Mukhtar, Vice Chairman Sohail Pasha, Central Chairman Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association Rana Mushtaq Khan, Chairman Pakistan Apparel Forum Javed Bilwani and General Secretary Pakistan Power Loom Association Multan Khaliq Qandeel Ansari said that the Government was not realising the full implications of the unbridled export of yarn, which had two fanged detrimental effect on labour intensive home industry. The value-added textile sector, they said, was facing difficulty of the high cost of production and becoming incompetitive in international market. The foreign buyers were diverting their export orders to China, India and Bangladesh, which were comparatively cheaper suppliers.
They further contended the wisdom of exporting the most essential raw material of home industry to rival countries thereby strengthening their industries and strangulating the home industry. The value-added textile sector leaders emphasised the importance of saving the 18 million workers from unemployment and wage earners from joblessness in case the value added sector of the country was forced to close down. They also questioned the wisdom of exporting one dollar value yarn at the cost of value added finished goods which fetched 8 dollars for the same quantity of yarn.
The forum leaders warned that if the Government did not pay heed to their demands, the industry would leave no stone unturned in their efforts and would not hesitate to go all out for their fundamental right. The value added textile sector demanded imposition of 30 percent regulatory duty on yarn export and announced to continue their protest indefinitely.