FAISALABAD: Textile exporters have demanded a special package, including the removal of the Export Development Fund levy and the deferment of loan repayments for next two or three years, to ensure sustained economic growth and achieving export targets.
Addressing a press conference, Rana Arif Tauseef, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) chairman, Chaudhry Muhammad Sidique, Faisalabad Dry Port Trust (FDPT) chairman, and Mukhtar Ahmed Sheikh, Faisalabad Garment City (FGC) chairman, welcomed the incentives offered to agriculture and other sectors in the budget 2006-07, and said the government had tried its best to pass on the benefits of economic growth to farmers, workers and government employees. ?hese measures have been proposed to curb poverty,?they said but feared that the required financial resources would not be available to dish out these incentives and implement the record public sector development programme of Rs 320 billion if the textile sector failed to contribute its role in the national economy.
They said the textile sector contributed 65 percent to the national economy and provided maximum jobs to the people in the country.
They said that textile exporters had invested to refurbish and expand their industrial units to improve quality and quantity to compete in international markets. ?n spite of our best efforts only 18 percent growth was achieved as against the expected increase of 32 percent,?they said and added that Pakistan was now producing good quality textile products but regional competitors ?China, India and Bangladesh ?were flooding international markets with their cheap products. .
Our competitors get electricity, gas and loans at cheap rates in addition to subsidies. They claimed that production cost was low in other countries while the cost of business had increased manifold in Pakistan because of continuous increase in the rates of gas, electricity and bank loans. ?he federal government is strictly following the rules imposed by the World Trade Organisation while our competitors are providing subsidies to strengthen their textile sector,?they said, adding that the production cost was less in other countries from Pakistan and those counties were exploiting the situation to capture the markets.
Pakistani exporters are prepared to compete with the exporters of other countries but they cannot compete the powerful governments that are extending maximum incentives to their exporters. They said that exporters had been continuously identifying these complications and disparities in the production cost with a request to bailout the textile sector. They feared that negative impacts of the situation would start pinching within next few months making it difficult for exports to handle the situation alone. They appealed to President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to take measures to redress the situation otherwise the textile export might face a setback.
Constable killed in shootout: Unidentified robbers killed a police constable and injured another in Dijkot when they were spotted by the policemen, police sources said on Wednesday. Sources said that robbers were looting passengers on Dasoha Road, Dijkot, when a police squad of Union Council 147 was informed about it. Seeing police, he robbers opened fire and killed Abdul Hameed and injured his colleague, Nawaz, sustained bullet injuries. Nawaz was admitted to hospital where his condition was stated to be stable.
