The higher ups of different textile export associations in Pakistan have appealed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to immediately appoint a federal minister for textile industry so that major issues of the sector are speedily resolved in the larger interest of the country’s exports. The absence of a textile minister and the proposed merger of textile and commerce ministry under the Ministry of Commerce is creating uncertainty and negatively affecting the major export earner of the country.
Most of the important decisions regarding textile policy, Export Development Fund (EDF) and budget preparation exercise for the next financial year are hanging in the balance as Senator Abbas Khan Afridi left as Minister last month on completion of his tenure as senator and no new appointment has so far been made to fill the slot.
Further, the Cabinet Committee on Restructuring (CCoR) in its meeting held last week proposed to club Textile division and Commerce division under the umbrella of Ministry of Commerce. Textile industry is a complicated and vast subject and it needs a separate ministry. They further said that keeping in view the strategic importance of textile sector, the government established a separate Ministry of Textile Industry in September 2004. Pakistan’s textile industry comprises cotton spinning (yarn), cotton weaving (cloth), cotton fabric, fabric processing, home textiles, towels, hosiery and knitwear and apparels. These are manufactured both on large scale as well as by small and medium cottage units.
