PTEA seeks govt support to fully benefit from GSP Plus

07 Jan '14

2 min read

Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), an apex body of textile exporters in the country, has sought government support to help textile exporters fully benefit from the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) Plus facility extended to the country by the European Union.

The Association has urged the Government to initiate steps to ensure early release of huge sums of textile exporters of the country, which are blocked in refund regime.

During a media briefing, PTEA Chairman Sheikh Ilyas Mahmood and Vice Chairman Adil Tahir noted that liquidity crisis is a major roadblock which over the years has proved detrimental to the country’s textile industry and has negatively impacted its production and productivity.

Duty waiver benefit under the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) Plus facility is expected to significantly boost textile exports from the country, however, the industry would not be able to fully exploit the opportunity with insufficient funds, they added.

While levy of two percent sales tax on supplies are impacting business activities, zero rating is a key for remaining globally competitive, the PTEA officials said adding that hardly 15 percent of textile items produced in Pakistan are consumed domestically, with the rest being exported.

Mr. Mahmood assured that the industry would deploy all efforts to reap the benefits of the GSP facility, but added that it would depend to a large extent on the Government ensuring release of refund claims, continuous gas and power supply and duty waivers.

Calling on the Government to reinstate duty waiver facility for the textile industry, he said finance is the key to keep the business running and it would not be possible for the industry or the economy to benefit from the GSP Plus facility without this.

GSP would also help in re-attracting the investments that Pakistani textile industry has lost to other nations already availing the facility, he added.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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