Sheikh Asghar Ali has been elected unopposed as Chairman of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), while Rizwan Ihsan and Arif Mahmood Qureshi were elected Senior Vice Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively for the next term. According to the PTEA election schedule, September 07 was the last date to file nominations for the PTEA office-bearers for 2015-16 and no other candidate turned up for filing nomination papers against Sheikh Asghar Ali, Rizwan Ihsan and Arif Mahmood Qureshi therefore, all the three made their way to the victory stand.
The formal announcement, however, would be made at the annual general meeting scheduled for September 22. New PTEA chief Sheikh Asghar Ali is a seasoned industrialist and heads a group of most modern textile units. He is serving on boards of many charitable, health and educational institutions contributing to society. He had already served the Association in the same capacity in 2012-13.
Speaking after his election as Chairman, Sheikh Asghar Ali said that presently, textile industry is in grip of unprecedented crisis and wheels of industry have come to a halt. Consequently, sizeable textile capacity had been severely impaired and textile exports, both in quantity and value terms had declined across the value chain. Industrial productivity is low, exports are stagnant and industrial crisis is deteriorating day by day.
This is having an adverse impact on the employment and the economy of the country. He said that his priority would be to attain the viability in international market. He asked his fellow businessmen to improve their human resource that would ultimately increase their efficiencies and prepare them to survive in difficult times. The PTEA under his leadership would provide the policymakers with well-researched recommendations for the development of textile sector, said Asghar Ali, adding that the gloomy economic situation could be tackled through prudent policies. It is time to do away with all wasteful expenditures and adopt austerity without compromising on growth, he said. Later, he thanked all the members for reposing confidence in his leadership.