KARACHI: Suleman Chawla, Acting President FPCCI, has proposed that custom duty on polyester filament yarn should be reduced to 7 percent from the current prohibitive 11 percent to give a much needed boost to the use of synthetic fibers in the textile industry of the country.

He said that synthetic fiber is the future; and, it has assumed further criticality in Pakistan’s peculiar scenario where our indigenous cotton production has been progressively declining on one hand and demand for cotton has risen steadily on the other hand.

He also recommended that, in order to encourage the manufacturers, the government should consider levying the same withholding tax (WHT) on import stage for both the manufacturers and commercial importers of polyester filament yarn.

Acting FPCCI Chief maintained that the value addition tax (VAT) of 3 percent at the import stage for commercial importers of polyester filament yarn should also be abolished to make the raw materials competitive for Pakistani textile industry.

Suleman Chawla emphasized that, as the major part of polyester filament yarn for domestic use is imported, no budgetary measures like regulatory duty should be imposed without consulting the manufacturers and importers.

He also expressed his optimism that the upcoming budget 2022 – 23 will include measures to sustain and further increase the lifeline of Pakistani exports, ie, textiles. Textile exports have touched $15.98 billion for the first 10 months of the outgoing fiscal year 2021 – 22; registering Year-on-Year (YoY) increase of 25.96 percent, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022