Industry against merger of textile, commerce divisions

Stakeholders urge prime minister to withdraw decision saying it will damage sector

KARACHI: The value-added textile sector has opposed the merger of commerce and textile divisions citing that it will affect the overall performance of the sector.

A statement jointly issued by Council of All Pakistan Textile Mills Associations Chairman Muhammad Zubair Motiwala and other textile industry stakeholders urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to withdraw the decision of merging commerce and textile divisions as it would damage the sector.

The stakeholders asked the government to keep the textile ministry separate from the Commerce Division and appoint a textile minister who would resolve major issues of the sector.

The federal government recently approved a recommendation of Adviser to Prime Minister on Restructuring and Austerity Dr Ishrat Husain to merge the commerce ministry with the textile division and rename it Ministry of Commerce and Textiles.

They termed it ironic that the government merged commerce and textile divisions without prior consultations with the stakeholders.

Motiwala highlighted that the textile export sector was the largest foreign exchange earner of Pakistan with a contribution of $13.32 billion (58% of total exports) to the national exchequer.

“The Ministry of Textiles was established on demand of the value-added textile export sector, which is the backbone and lifeline of our nation’s economy,” he said. “The government cannot neglect this sector as it provides 42% of total employment.”

He added that value-added textile sector was one of the largest employers of female workforce.

Initially after the establishment of the textile ministry, textile exports got a great boost, he underlined.

However, it was not given powers to take vital decisions and issue Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs), therefore it faced problems in implementation of textile policies.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2019.

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