Dar, APTMA to stitch relationship

Finance minister to meet association over textile industry woes.

LAHORE: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar seems to have his hands full these days.

While traders continue to criticise the government over the withholding tax levy on banking transactions, textile millers have also announced a strike on August 7.

Dar, who is not backing down from his stance on the withholding tax issue, is now also scheduled to meet textile industry representatives on Saturday to discuss issues agitating the industry.

Officials within the government circles revealed that a strike call from the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) came as a surprise for the government and is being taken “seriously”.

“We have been pushed to the wall during the past five years due to inept policies of the government,” said an official associated with a spinning unit. He said textile exports that reached $13.8 billion in 2010-11 declined to $13.4 billion in 2014-15. He said, however, global textile exports registered an annual average increase of 6% during the period.

Aptma Chairman SM Tanveer, leading the delegation, said the association has pleaded to the government for a level-playing field against competing economies but it has yielded no result. He said the strike call was the last resort for the association after 25% of the mills closed down, while others have to forgo one shift of production.

“Our members are not prepared to operate the mills on the high tariff which includes heavy surcharge to cover theft and inefficiencies of the power providers,” said Tanveer. “Textile exports are now subjected to around 5% taxes and there is no mechanism to refund those. This is not tolerable as the industry has become unviable not only in the export but domestic market as well.”

The Aptma chief lamented that the domestic markets have not been protected and textile imports, through under invoicing and smuggling, are finding their way into the local market. “There has been no new investment in machinery during the last one decade. Competing economies have upgraded technology to produce more efficiently textiles and at lesser cost.”

He hoped Dar would listen to reason and withdraw the unfair power surcharge, while removing other irritants for the industry.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2015.

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