Muhammad Amjad Khawaja vice chairman Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (North Zone) in a press conference stated that the textile sector has been forced to come on the road as the government has failed to fulfil its commitments and resolve the issues confronted by this sector.

According to Amjad Khawaja textile export is main stay of the national economy. Its share in total export is around 60 per cent but unluckily it is facing a steep decline only due to the ill-conceived policies of the government and there should be immediate release of Rs 180 billion with a withdrawal of Gas Infrastructure Development and Fuel Surcharge. He also added that along with leading textile exporters had repeated meetings with concerned government sectors and apprised them of the issues faced by the textile exporters.

He strongly criticized the step-motherly treatment with this foreign exchange earning sector of the country and cautioned that they are now not ready to take their begging bowl to anyone. This had led them to take a decision on coming to road along with their workers if government failed to fulfil its commitments. The protest will take place immediately after ramzan.

He wishes to have a real assurance from the government side because for a longer period government as yet not given any assurance to release funds under textile package in addition to the payment of refund claims.

Further he stated that they are ready to negotiate and resolve the issues provided if the government shows a positive attitude. Rizwan Ashraf - FCCI says that already issued RPOs were cancelled last month which is an indicative of the non-seriousness of the They also want that federal budget and government must approve the relief on the foreign exchange earning sector of textile.