Pakistan govt to revive closed textile mills: Minister

17 Jul '14

2 min read

The Government of Pakistan is planning to revive the closed textile units, so as the increase the country’s annual exports by US$ 1 billion and create about 100,000 new jobs in the process, Commerce Minister Khuram Dastagir Khan has said.

During a meeting with representatives of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) in Islamabad, Mr. Khan said the Government would persuade the State Bank of Pakistan and other financial institutions to restructure debts of the sick textile units so that they can be made operational.

Mr. Khan asked the FCCI delegation to prepare a list of all the closed textile units and the number of employees who became unemployed due to their closure, as it would help the Ministry to frame appropriate policies to solve the problems of those textile mills and they be made re-operational.

The delegation told the Minister that the revival of the closed textile units would be able to generate employment opportunities for about 100,000 persons, with 25-30 percent of them being women. Such a step would also help Pakistani textile industry to increase their share in global markets.

On the occasion, the Minister also spoke about the necessity for Pakistan to add value to its textiles. He told the delegation that the country’s textiles currently earn only about US$ 4-5 per kg of cotton, and the Government intends to increase this value to over $15 per kg.

The exports of textiles and garments from Pakistan increased by 5.96 percent year-on-year to US$ 12.626 billion in the first eleven months of fiscal year 2013-14, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Of this, garments accounted for only $3.82 billion.

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