KARACHI: Saqib Naseem, Central Chairman Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) has sought the cooperation of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) to convince the government for reducing the duties and taxes and abolish anti-dumping duty on polyester yarn, which was the main raw material of textile industry and SMEs.

Speaking at a meeting with KCCI, Saqib Naseem requested the KCCI President to take up the issue of excessive taxes and duties imposed on polyester yarn before the Federal Government, especially to reduce the 11% customs duty on polyester yarn to 7%. While the government had promised to bring down the customs duty to 9% in the current financial year’s budget, but this promise has not been fulfilled so far.

PYMA delegation that visited the KCCI also demanded abolition of anti-dumping duty in the wider interest of the textile sector. They mentioned that previous governments had provided relief to this important industry through textile packages. On the contrary, under the present government, the industry has been burdened with taxes.

“Commercial importers of yarn act as a bank for thousands of small scale textile industries, which cannot import large quantities of yarn. Therefore, commercial importers play a vital role in meeting their production demand. That is why the government should reduce taxes & duties to reduce the cost of production”, Saqib said.

He also demanded that the government reduce the turnover tax to 0.1% as excessive turnover tax has made it extremely difficult to continue business as compared to the limited profit, which needs to be seriously considered.

Muhammad Idrees, KCCI president, assured the PYMA delegation of all possible cooperation from KCCI, in order to facilitate doing business, running industries, and to promote business, industrial activities as well as increase domestic exports.

KCCI president said that Karachi Chamber would play its full role in resolving the issues facing the textile industry and SMEs and will raise a strong voice in front of the federal government.

Saqib Naseem paid rich tributes to Siraj Kassam Teli, founder of Businessmen Group(BMG), and said that when BMG was formed, he stood by the side of late Siraj Kassam Teli, which was a great honour for him.

PYMA Chairman congratulated BMG Chairman Zubair Motiwala, all BMG Chairman, General Secretary, especially KCCI officials on their uncontested election, and said that KCCI should solve the problems of the business & industrial community, as it was a strong platform, whose voice is heard in government officials and institutions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021