Industry will not let GSP Plus go to waste: APTMA

Body’s new chief says exports have dropped $1b so far.

KARACHI:

All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Central Chairman SM Tanveer has said the association will ensure that electricity and gas shortages do not adversely affect productivity of the industry.

Speaking after taking over as the association’s central chairman at the Aptma Punjab House in Lahore on Tuesday, Tanveer vowed that the textile industry would not let the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus facility go to waste because of energy shortage.

He said they were unable to understand why energy supply to the textile mills was disrupted during occasions such as Eid or any political activity in the country. “Millions of workers depend on uninterrupted production activity at mills, which are designed to work 24 hours a day and seven days a week.”

He described the drop in production due to dearth of energy as the murder of the industry. “Pakistan’s textile industry suffers from regional uncompetitiveness with a massive increase of 67% in power tariff in a year.”

He blamed the government for mistreating the textile industry and lodging FIRs against its members, resulting in a loss of $1 billion in exports. Overseas sales may lose another $2.3 billion in case the prevailing situation continued for the rest of the financial year, he remarked.

Punjab Governor Mohammad Sarwar stressed that the government was aware of the challenges faced by the textile industry and was striving to provide support to the key foreign exchange earning sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2014.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.