The federal government has decided to approach top officials of Turkish government to avoid imposition of antidumping duty on Pakistan''s textile exports. "Prim Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has assured me that he will raise the issue with his Turkish counterpart," said Rana Muhammad Farooq minister for textile industry while talking to Business Recorder on Wednesday.
Gilani has also advised other top government officials to make concrete efforts for avoiding similar possible restrictions in other states, he added. The Turkish government after detailed investigations into garments as well as fabrics is considering imposing antidumping duty on textile from different countries including Pakistan.
As per the proposal, significant increase will be made in the initial duty on fabrics and the proposal is under discussion by the Council of Ministers in Turkey, which will soon finalise it. Expressing serious concern over the Turkish government decision the textile minister asked all the government officials to make efforts to avoid the duty.
"Being Muslim countries Pakistan and Turkey are close friends and help each other in tough times," he said and added that religious and regional bindings also push both countries for protecting each other''s benefits. "Increases in the duty will also be against the trade policies of both countries, as during the recent visit, the Turkish Prime Minister gave his commitment to enhance bilateral trade," Rana Farooq said.
He said with these duty restrictions Pakistan may face loss of over $300 million in textile exports to Turkey. "Turkey will also suffer huge losses in terms of payments against expensive fabrics and garments from other states, as presently we are supplying cheap and quality products to Turkey as compared to other regional countries like China," he added. Pakistani garment''s quality fits Turkish standard and fabrics is also much cheaper than their domestic commodity, the minister said.
Rana said the commerce ministry, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pakistani High Commissioner are also making hectic efforts to defend Pakistan against antidumping duty onslaught. "We have to make serious efforts and use all channels to avoid this duty otherwise the country''s textile exports will suffer huge losses," he added.
The Turkish government''s decision can also send negative signals to the European Union which could delay or cancel proposed GSP Plus status for Pakistan, the minister said. "The duty is still under consideration, and if we fail to make serious efforts, we will be facing huge losses," he said. Several leading fabric buyers from Turkey have informed Pakistani exporters about this development, following which there''s panic among Pakistani exporters, the minister added.