LAHORE: Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMEA) have urged the State Bank of Pakistan to review its decision to ban third-party shipments as it would hit the country’s exports.

The association also expressed concerns regarding difficulties in the import of semi-finished raw materials through Torkham Border, citing it was affecting the contracts with foreign buyers. Furthermore, the recently held world expo in Pakistan had a very positive impact on the handloom carpet industry but unfortunately due to problems and obstacles, these good impacts were fading away.

PCMEA Senior Vice Chairman Usman Ashraf expressed these concerns in a meeting of the association here Sunday. Carpet Training Institute Chairman Pervez Hanif, Senior Central Leader Abdul Latif Malik, Senior Member Riaz Ahmed, Major Akhtar Nazir (retd), Saeed Khan, Shahid Hasan, Ijazur Rehman, Malik Akbar and others were also present.

The meeting discussed in detail the problems faced by the handmade carpets industry and it was decided to contact the relevant authorities for early resolution of the issues.

SVC Usman Ashraf said that the ban on third-party shipment and direction that the country from which the money received; the shipment of the products would also be for that country, would hit the country’s exports hard. Many of the foreign buyers sell Pakistani products in other countries, and the ban on third-party shipments may displease them, he argued.

He said that it was not possible to fulfill the foreign orders in time due to unusual delay in the import of semi-finished goods from Afghanistan at Torkham Border. He added that it also affected the contract with foreign buyers as well as the reputation of Pakistan.