KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group and President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain has said the cabinet’s decision to turndown Economic Coordination Committee’s move to allow the import of cotton and yarn from India through land and sea routes has created uncertainty in the largest export earning sector of textiles.

The decision has attracted criticism from industrial sector and raised questions about the future of textile industry, he said.

He said that the suggestion of Commerce Advisor Abdul Razzaq Dawood and textile sector to allow the import of cotton and yarn from India was according to the ground realities and national interests.

Exports orders will be compromised while foreign buyers will prefer other countries over Pakistan as they would not like to conduct business with a country facing a shortage of cotton and yarn as the local cotton production has reduced by 50 percent as compared to 2014-15, he mentioned.

Mian Zahid Hussain said costly electricity and cotton is making business difficult as the freight cost via sea has already increased by 700 percent and delivery time has increased from 25 days to 105 days. The price of cotton and yarn is increasing after the decision of the federal cabinet as the value-added sector has asked for imports from India or ban on the export of local cotton and yarn but none of the demand has been accepted.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021