Senior Vice Chairman Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (north Zone) Musharraf Iqbal Khawaja has said that they are actively considering establishing "Support Industry" to facilitate the business community.

For this purpose a proposal is under preparation which would soon be submitted to the federal government for its approval and obtaining funds out of Export Development Fund (EDF) and it would be an addition to industrial sector of the country, he said.

Talking to Business Recorder Musharraf said that business community would be able to obtain all kind of raw material under one roof adding that export sector of the country heavily relies on import of raw materials especially from China for further value addition and re-exports adding that this practice adds to the cost of doing business and is major contributor towards increasing import bill of Pakistan.

He pointed out that keeping in view the importance and contribution of Sialkot there was a great need of setting up of support industry which would reduce imports to serve as a source of raw materials for the export industry.

Expressing the hope Senior Vice Chairman said that government will definitely support and provide the funds out of Export Development Fund (EDF) for this project adding that setting up of 'Support Industry' would be a new addition in the industrial sector of the country. In addition this government should encourage the businessmen and investors to invest in Support industry which would ultimately lead to import substitution of especially raw material utilized by local industry, he said.

Pakistan has seen many industrial surges where industries were established but no work has ever been done to invest in 'Support Industry' to complement the existing manufacturing set up of the country he was of the opinion. In this regard it is suggested that investors both local and foreign should be encouraged to invest in 'Support Industry' like accessories of textile and clothing, printing and packaging, etching and polishing chemicals used in surgical instruments industry and others.

Musharraf stressed the need of carrying out a detailed study by taking all chambers and associations on board for identifying the list of major supporting products which are imported from various countries. Keeping in view the importance and contribution there is a need of setting up 'Support Industry' in Sialkot which would reduce imports of raw materials for export industry, he added.

The initiative should also be taken to attract investors including duty free import of equipment for setting up 'Support Industry'. At this juncture he said there was a great need to focus on Research and Development for bringing innovation and improvement of products to cope with the fast changing global trends easily he said.

Musharraf urged upon the government to support hosiery and knitwear industry to resolve its problems like sales tax refund, duty drawback support at earliest possible to facilitate the business community.

The Senior Vice Chairman Pakistan Hosiery urged upon the government to adopt aggressive approach for reducing gas and electricity rates to keep the industrial wheel in full motion as well as to ease the doing of business.