The Ministry of Textile Industry and all stakeholders are not on the same page in dealing and reconciling different economic interests operating within the sector ranging from cotton growers to ginners to value-added textile sector. Chairman Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association Aman Qureshi told this scribe that despite cotton bumper crop for the current season, the ginners and growers suffered a loss of Rs 200 billion due to the absence of a comprehensive policy.
Spot rate remained as low as Rs 5000 to Rs 6500 per maund. And the government complicated the registration process, besides imposing one percent security duty to discourage cotton export in favour of inners and textile manufactures. He said that up till now one million bales of cotton have been exported and had there been a comprehensive policy, two million bales could have been exported. He urged the government to intervene in the market to purchase cotton to bring stability to the cotton prices.
Khawaja Shoaib, a member of farmer association, said that there should be a farmer friendly policy to encourage them to increase cotton production. "We want a policy which gives protection to all the stakeholders," he said and blamed the government for giving undue favour to All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma). APTMA argued that the industry is already facing energy crisis and is on the verge of collapse. If cotton is exported, there would be a shortage in the country, which would raise input costs of Aptma members making their higher value-added products uncompetitive in world markets. If cotton is converted into value-added textile products it would bring in more foreign exchange earnings for the country, Aptma argues.
A senior official of the Textile Ministry agreed that there is no proper policy to regulate cotton, its exports, however, he stated that work has begun on formulating a comprehensive policy. He maintained that the government has no role in the decision to export or import cotton and the market is open to all. However, he admitted that the government would prefer it if domestic cotton requirements are met before exports are allowed.