Adviser rules out closure of fertiliser units due to gas shortage

Says government is taking measures to overcome scarcity immediately

ISLAMABAD: The government was taking measures to overcome gas shortage as soon as possible, said Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile and Industries Abdul Razak Dawood.

Talking to mediapersons on Friday, he said gas supply to all fertiliser manufacturing units was continuing without any interruption in order to meet domestic fertiliser requirements during the current season and provide it to farmers at affordable rates.

He said the government was not shutting down fertiliser units and there was no shortage of urea, therefore, the farmers should not be worried. "Surplus stock of urea is kept by fertiliser dealers as well as fertiliser manufacturers," he added. He, however, said other industrialists were worried about the shortage of gas these days due to increased demand from domestic consumers across the country.



With respect to the recent gas crisis in Karachi, the adviser told the media that the prime minister had taken action and asked the authorities concerned to resolve the issue as soon as possible. "The minister for petroleum is in Karachi where he is meeting with officials of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to resolve the issue on a priority basis," he added.

Dawood informed the journalists that his recent visit to Japan had remained highly successful as Japanese investors showed keen interest in investing in Pakistan's engineering, information technology, waste water treatment and desalination plants.

Responding to a question, he said projects under first phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be completed within a year and after that the government would look forward to expanding the scope of CPEC in the areas of industries, social development, agriculture and education.



Replying to a question regarding Chinese commitment to providing assistance to ease Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves' problem, Dawood said the Chinese ambassador in Islamabad had reaffirmed that his country stood by what was agreed during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China last month.

He said the matter was under process and the reason behind the delay was that the Chinese fiscal year would start from January so they were busy in their domestic economic matters. The adviser added that the government was preparing a comprehensive industrial policy, which would take some time.

"We will draft separate policies for each important industry such as textile, leather, engineering goods and sports goods," he said, adding the textile policy was expected to be finalised in the next few months.

Responding to another query regarding free trade agreements (FTAs) with other countries, he said Pakistan was looking to initiate negotiations for a new FTA with Malaysia. However, there were some constraints to bilateral trade, which would be removed soon by expanding mutual cooperation, he said.

The minister pointed out that Malaysia was not happy with Pakistan due to a significant reduction in imports of palm oil from Malaysia, while on the other hand, Pakistan had reservations about low exports to Malaysia.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2018.

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