PCMEA seeks govt support to capture carpet market

Chairman says govt should provide facilities to exporters to achieve targets

LAHORE: Pakistan's carpet industry has great potential to dominate global markets with innovative designs, said Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMEA) Chairman Muhammad Aslam Tahir. The industry could contribute substantially to country's export revenues annually, he added.

He expressed these views while chairing the association's meeting on Sunday. Carpet Training Institute Chairperson Pervez Hanif, Association's Senior Vice Chairman Sheikh Aamer Khalid, Senior Central Leader Abdul Latif Malik, Senior Member Riaz Ahmed, Saeed Khan, Muhammad Akbar Malik and others were also present in the meeting.

The chairman said that the government should provide them all possible support to carpet manufacturers to display their products in international exhibitions and departmental stores abroad. He also demanded to make sure that the carpet industry would be given special incentives in the proposed trade policy.

He further said that the government's policies to boost export were a good omen. The chairman also demanded from the government to take the association into confidence for devising exports policies. “There is a dire need to increase the volume of exports to strengthen the national economy,” he maintained. For this, the government should continue to make business-friendly and export-friendly initiatives, he elaborated.

The chairman stressed that the country needed to develop the best strategy to fully exploit the Pakistan-China free trade agreement and the government should also help carpet exporters to seize space in departmental and super stores in foreign countries. He suggested the government to take measures to reduce cost of production and provide facilities to exporters to achieve result-oriented targets.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2019.