Hosiery exporters in Pakistan want the surcharge on export proceeds to be abolished. There is a 0.25 per cent export development surcharge, which is deducted from export proceeds.

Exporters say abolishing surcharge will help them use the cash liquidity for enhancing exports. Stitching units want to be allowed to import raw material under the Duty and Tax Remission for Export (DTRE) scheme. At present, they cannot import raw material under the DTRE system. There are about 13,372 circular knitting machines, 10,646 flat knitting and 23,241 socks knitting machines in the country. Capacity utilization is around 70 per cent.

The readymade garment segment has emerged as an important small-scale industry in Pakistan as products have strong demand both at home and abroad. The garment industry is a good source of employment to a large number of people and it mainly uses locally produced raw materials. The machines used by the industry are imported or locally made and assembled. Production of garments by units depends on export orders directly or indirectly and these orders have somewhat risen in terms of value, but they have fluctuated widely in terms of quantity.