LAHORE: Federal Finance and Revenue Minister Miftah Ismail has assured the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) of government’s full support in meeting the exports target for the current fiscal year.
He was speaking to the APTMA members during his visit to the APTMA office on Saturday. Federal Minister for Railways Kh Saad Rafique, Jameel Ahmad, the governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Inayat Hussain, deputy governor of SBP, Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue Asim Ahmed and Chief Collector of Customs Rabab Sikandar also attended the meeting.
Dr Gohar Ejaz, patron-in-chief of APTMA, central chairman Abdul Rahim Nasir, Chairman Northern Zone, Hamid Zaman, Senior Vice Chairman Kamran Arshad, Treasurer Asad Shafi and Secretary General APTMA Raza Baqir, along with senior members of the association received the federal ministers upon their arrival.
Mr Ismail said the disparity in price of gas between different provinces will be seriously reviewed and hopefully the issue will be resolved shortly with approval of the cabinet.
He added that the government is exploring various options to ensure sustainable gas supply to the export industry in the coming winter and a number of measures have already been initiated to meet the requirement. He further promised to find some suitable ways to meet the current gas demand of textile mills.
On the issue of liquidity crunch being faced by the industry and the problems being faced in getting clearance of imported consignments in the wake of restrictions imposed by State Bank of Pakistan, he directed Governor SBP to visit to the APTMA office next week in order to address the textile industry’s all finance related issues.
Minister for Railways Saad Rafique said the country was passing through a difficult time when Pakistan Muslim League-N came into power. However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his team worked hard to take the country out of the financial mess. He urged the APTMA leadership to come forward and help out the flood-affected people in this hour of need.
While speaking on the occasion, Dr Gohar Ejaz said in order to achieve $50 billion exports in five years, adequate supply of energy at regionally competitive tariffs is a must. Also, availability of working capital to 500 new entrepreneurs, TERF like facility for Rs500 billion ($ 2 billion) to facilitate investment and debt equity ratio of 80:20 to include Building & Infrastructure as 50 percent of cost of garment factories is also need of the hour.
He said the textile sector has committed to set up 1000 garment plants. To enable successful outcome of this scheme, he said, it is extremely important to train women to contribute to various stages of the value chain e.g. stitching, weaving etc., and to bring them into the workforce.
Chairman APTMA Rahim Nasir said all imports of the export oriented sectors should be allowed hindrance-free admission into Pakistan, as the impact of the delay in clearance of the last 2-3 months will be significant in case of further delay.
According to him, inputs of export-oriented units should not require pre-approval of SBP as this will cause delays and bureaucratic hurdles. He said 50% more working capital is needed to cover the gap created by exchange rate depreciation. He also sought restoration of the SRO 1125 i.e., Zero Rating for the entire textile value chain.
Chairman APTMA Punjab Hamid Zaman demanded priority of Gas/RLNG supply to the exporting sectors in Punjab, hosting to more than 50 percent of the total installed capacity in Pakistan, and requires 200MMcfd gas/RLNG. The basis for gas allocation be changed to 50% of sanctioned load, he added.
The finance minister also played a flood-related documentary for the APTMA members, which was followed by a compassionate appeal from him for more donations to take the flood-affected people out of miseries.
Dr Gohar Ejaz announced Rs100 million ration bags for the flood affected people on the occasion.
Senior Vice Chairman APTMA Kamran Arshad presented a vote of thanks to both the ministers at the end of the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022