To boost textile exports from the country, the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to announce the ‘Textile Package’ for exporters without further delay. They say, this could revive the closed capacity, create jobs and attract investment in the country.

Sr Vice Chairman, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), Zahid Mazhar said that the PM should take ownership for exports and announce the much awaited textile package without any further delay or it will be too late and too little because Pakistan is rapidly losing customers globally due to high cost of doing business and poor competitiveness as compared to regional competitors. To prove his point, he claimed total exports had fallen from $25 billion in fiscal year ended 2013 to $20 billion in fiscal year ended 2016.

Mazhar said delay in proposed incentive package has been rapidly eroding the exports of textile sector. In support of his argument he said textile exports for September 2016 declined 12.1 per cent as compared to previous year. Textile exports from July 2015 to June 2016 went down 7.5 per cent over the corresponding period of 2014-15.

He further said the industry was facing a crisis because of high cost of doing business being 10 per cent higher than other regional competitors, high cost and shortage of raw materials and liquidity constraints. Duties/taxes/surcharges on exports in Pakistan are more than 5 per cent.