PYMA urges govt to lower cost of doing business to protect domestic industry

KARACHI: The Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) has urgently called upon the federal government to take immediate measures aimed at lowering the cost of doing business to save the domestic industry.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Shams Qaiser chairman PYMA threatened to protest in Islamabad, if demands are not accepted by the government. He said that Pakistan’s industry is gradually closing because of the high cost of doing business.

“We are unable to run the industry at current utility tariff, which is highest in the region and non-competitive for the domestic industry to compete in the international market,” he added.

He said that the present government has completely failed to provide relief to the industry and increased the power tariff, of which industry is unable to continue the operations.

He informed that some 29 percent of the spinning mills and 20 knitting mills have been closed across the country due to high cost of production. In addition, out of 880 thousand water jet machines, 32 percent have been closed.

Qaiser said that the closure of the mills will not only increase unemployment in the country, but also directly hurt the country’s export target for this fiscal year. Some 0.15 million workers of the textile industry have become unemployed during the last few months.

“We demand the government to reduce the electricity rates immediately to support the domestic industry, otherwise ready for further closure of the industry,” he mentioned.

On the occasion Senior Chairman Sohail Nisar said that in Pakistan, a looming energy crisis is a big threat for the industrial sector. With a demand for 22,000MW, the nation is currently paying for 45,000MW, of which the industry and general masses paying the cost of account of capacity utilization.

Skyrocketing capacity charges have dealt a crippling blow to many industries, particularly in Punjab, where half of the regions spinning mills have shut down in just two years.

He urged the federal government to renegotiate with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) on their previous agreements to bring out the country from crisis. The future of Pakistan’s economy is completely dependent on the governments’ steps.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024