All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman Aamir Fayyaz has sought enabling environment to boost much-needed investment in textile industry. He urged the Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Dr Shamshad Akhtar to take steps to build up garment sector infrastructure at the rate of $1 billion per annum and cover indirect exports under the Long Term Finance Facility (LTFF) scheme to encourage investment in the textile sector.
He said in a letter to the minister that this initiative would render good result for domestic value added sector. It may be mentioned that this facility was available in the earlier LTF-EOP scheme.
He said import of textile machinery has been increased across the world as the data suggests that import of processing machinery has increased to 38 percent globally in 2017 against 2013 followed by spinning machinery (18%), sewing machines (14%), knitwear machines (15%), weaving machines (10%), and MMF manufacturing machines (5%). The global investment in textile industry has reached to $102 billion. However, the textile industry in Pakistan has not been able to undertake investment initiatives, in proper manner and witnessed a meagre investment of $2 billion during these years. Textile industry in Pakistan has been facing constraints under BMR and Greenfield projects, whereas textile producing countries in the region have made huge investments under various incentive schemes. Consequently, he said, production efficiencies have been shifted to our competing countries.
He lamented that Pakistan's textile industry exports have adversely been affected due to high cost of doing business. He said there is a serious decline in export of textiles during the last four years and it is imperative that Pakistan textile industry should be enabled to undertake BMR and Greenfield investments to generate exportable surplus to overcome huge trade deficit.
State Bank of Pakistan's LTFF that provides funds on long term basis for import of machinery does not cover indirect exporters and they are deprived of the incentive terms of the investment scheme, which needed to be covered under this scheme to boost exports.