Government urged to pay pending rebate claims through SBP

Textile manufacturing and exporting associations on Tuesday asked the government to pay all of their pending rebate claims through State Bank of Pakistan at the stage of export proceeds payments.
The associations also demanded of the government to permit the stitching units to import raw material under DTRE and warned that rebate grant of four percent to cotton yarn exporters had yielded a shortage of the input commodity for value-added textile manufacturing.
The associations' representatives also proposed, at a meeting with members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Textile Industry held at PHMA House, the four percent rebate should be provided on the local sales of cotton yarn, instead. They also asked the government to abolish the duty and sales tax on import of cotton yarn.
Chairman, Haji Muhammad Akram and members of the Standing Committee including Sardar Muhammad Shafqat Hayat Khan, Rana Umer Nazir, Malik Shakir Bashir Awan, Aqibullah Khan, Colonel Dr Amirullah Marwat(retd), Malik Abdul Ghaffar Dogar, Muhammad Ayaz Soomro, Romina Khurshid Alam and Beelum Hasnain were informed about the problems of the value-added textile sector in the country.
Highlighting Chief Co-ordinator, Value Added Textile Association, Muhammad Jawed Bilwani told the Standing Committee about the soaring tariffs of electricity and gas in the country that were scaling down exports. "We warned the government in every meeting that vital exports will plunge further if cost of doing business is not brought at par with regional competitors," he added.
He said that the value-added textile sector was contributing $11.08 billion (53 per cent of the country's total exports and 89 percent of entire textile exports), besides generating 42 percent of the total employment including female workers.
"In 1990, textile exports of Pakistan stood at $3.67 billion, Bangladesh $0.98 billion and India $4.71 billion and in 2016 the export of Pakistan stood at $12.45 billion with 239 percent growth; Bangladesh $27.49 billion with 2,705 percent surge and India's textile exports are $37.65 with 699 percent growth", he told the meeting that "in 1991, cotton production of Pakistan stood at 12.8 million bales, India at 9.7 million bales while in 2016 Pakistan stand at 9.7 million bales with 24 percent decrease, India stands at 33.80 with 248 percent growth".