FAISALABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured to withdraw five percent custom duty on yarn import and in this connection notification will be issued immediately after the approval of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).

He had a meeting with the elected office bearers of the Chambers of Commerce & Industry belonging to Punjab province.

President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) Engineer Hafiz Ihtasham Javed representing the textile sector expressed his views about “Inspector less regime” for industrial sector and said that drastic cut in cotton production has not only created shortage of yarn but also enhanced its rates. He said that despite the corona, the Government took bold and prudent measures which helped the textile sector to improve its performance and enhance exports for the last three consecutive months.

He said that the textile group recorded 7.79% increase during July-December and to maintain this tempo Government must ensure availability of yarn at reasonable rates. He said that earlier the Government had withdrawn 5% import duty which saved exporters from immediate financial losses, however now withdrawal of custom duty is imperative to ensure availability of cotton and polyester yarn at competitive rates so that our exporters could compete with their regional competitors. He said that availability of yarn will also play an instrumental role in running the textile sector with full capacity and generating maximum jobs for the unemployed youth.

Prime Minister immediately directed Muhammad Hammad Azhar Federal Minister for Industries & Production to take up this issue and resolve it on top priority basis.

During this meeting Engineer Hafiz Ihtasham Javed thanked the Prime Minister for focusing on the industrial sector and assured that exporters will make concerted efforts to further enhance exports after the withdrawal of custom duty. He said that the credit goes to FCCI for the withdrawal of 5% import duty and now it was trying its optimum best to withdraw 5% custom duty. He said that FCCI will continue its efforts to resolve the emerging challenges faced by the textile sector. He said that the Government should also withdraw custom duty on polyester yarn along with cotton yarn to save the textile sector from total collapse.—PR

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021