Garment sector to be priority: Pakistan's Textile Minister

23 May '14

2 min read

Pakistan’s Minister for Textile Industry Abbas Khan Afridi has said that the garment sector would be the main priority for the Government as it does most of the value-addition in the textile industry.

Mr. Afridi said the Ministry’s task is to look after all segments of the textile industry, but the Government would support those segments that increase value-addition. He added that the garment sector would certainly get Government support as it does the maximum value-addition.

Talking to newsmen after a ‘Consultative Conference on Textile Policy 2014-19’, Mr. Afridi said the textile sector was an engine of growth as it can create employment and also increase exports.

He informed that the new textile policy 2014-19, which would replace the current textile policy that ends on June 23, 2014, would provide innovative and extraordinary solutions to genuine problems faced by the industry.

According to the Minister, there are entrepreneurs in Pakistan who are keen are investing in the textile sector, and the new textile policy would give them the opportunity to do so.

The Minister also laid emphasis on increasing the number of value-added items, as Pakistan currently exports only 13 value-added items of the total 950 products that are traded worldwide.

At the conference, representatives of value-added textile exporters presented their recommendations to the Minister, which included bringing back the ‘no-payment no-refund’ system.

They said that around Pk Rs. 15 billion is being held up under the Drawback on Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL) since the last three years, and this amount should be immediately cleared to ease the liquidity crunch currently being faced by the exporters.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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