Govt urged to allow duty-free import

ISLAMABAD:

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan has said that Pakistan has a great potential to promote the export of furniture products as trained and skilled manpower for manufacturing high-quality furniture is already available in the country. However, due to a lack of modern machinery, the furniture industry had not yet developed up to its full potential while China was far ahead of Pakistan due to modern machinery, he said. The ICCI chief called on the government to allow duty-free import of furniture machinery so that the industry could grow to its full potential and play a more effective role in boosting exports and stabilising the economy. Speaking at an oath-taking ceremony of the Furniture Market Trade Union, he emphasised that the State Bank of Pakistan should issue loans at easy terms to the furniture sector to enable it to flourish and become competitive in the international market.