The Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA), appreciating the approval of the new Textile and Apparel Policy 2020-25, has called for its implementation at the earliest.
It is vital for investment and marketing plans in the major export-oriented sector, PHMA Central Chairman Shahzad Azam Khan said.
He expressed the hope that the $42 billion export target will be achieved if the policy gets enforced.
the implementation of the long-term policies would not only bring in investments and enable the industry to achieve the export target as well. He said that the new policy will help create employment opportunities and help bring the economy back on track.
The PHMA chairman said the makers of this Textile Policy have dealt a fair treatment to such textile sub-sectors which were not only undermined but were almost ignored.
The PHMA Central Chairman said that ad-hoc policies cannot prove beneficial for the country’s exports and the time has come to implement the long-term textile policy in letter and spirit.
Shahzad Azam said that Pakistan can achieve a target of $42 billion’s export provided the local industry is facilitated with regionally competitive energy tariffs and a business-friendly environment.
PHMA senior vice chairman Abdul Hameed said that the new Textile Policy made a commitment for the provision of gas and electricity at competitive international prices, a continuation of tariff rationalization, and sticking to the policy of Duty Drawback on Local Taxes and Levies.
The PHMA leadership also appreciated Prime Minister Imran Khan, Federal energy minister Hammad Azhar, PM Advisor Razaq Dawood, and the commerce ministry in ensuring a balanced relief to the entire textile value-added chain of the Pakistan textile industry.
This much-awaited Textile Policy is well researched, outlines the major challenges, and proposes befitting measures for stabilization, revival, and growth of the textile industry of Pakistan. Most importantly, Pakistan not only has now a well-defined and dynamic Textile Policy it also has a Ministry which has its ownership, but Abdul Hameed also said.
For the first time focus has been developed on the utilization of women's workforce and domestic commerce which should be immensely useful for the growth of the industry, he added. It manifests the government's vision and intention to harness the full potential of the textile industry of Pakistan. Our textile industry is greatly handicapped by not having duty-free market access to several main textile importing countries like the United States of America.