HYDERABAD: President of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) Adeel Siddiqui has said that the textile sector is facing serious difficulties after a portion of the cotton crop was washed away by floods and, therefore, the government faces a huge challenge in adequately managing the sector.

In a statement, he said that due to the damages sustained by the cotton crop a shortfall of 5 million bales was expected in the sector. A total of $2 billion could be needed to import the cotton bales required at a time when the country is facing a crisis in the area of foreign exchange reserves.

The HCCI chief said that as per an estimate, the textile sector exported products worth $14bn and $19bn in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The sector is also facing the problems of increasing gas and electricity tariffs, besides price hikes.

Adeel Siddiqui said that there was a shortfall of 2m tons of RLNG and expressed the fear that textile exports might decline by $5bn. He urged the industrialists to come up with a plan about how to increase cotton production on a war footing.

He said the government should learn from the experiences of the various chambers and come up with adequate solutions to the different economic problems faced by the country. Economic stability is badly needed under the prevailing conditions.

Joint efforts among the textile sector, farmers and business leaders were the need of the time, he said. The industrial sector plays a key role vis-à-vis the economy and that’s why the authorities should focus on it.

The HCCI chief added that the government should enable exporters to export products to the international market with considerable ease.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022