Textile protest: APTMA puts off August-7 strike

Decision taken after Dar promised to resolve industry’s woes by Aug 31

LAHORE: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman S M Tanveer has deferred the August 7 strike announced by the textile industry for a month after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar gave his assurance to resolve the industry’s issues by August 31.

Tanveer, during a press conference on Tuesday, said the general body of the association had given him the mandate for putting off the strike.

“We will call another general body meeting on September 4 to decide whether to hold the strike for one day or an indefinite period in case the government fails to resolve the issues,” he said.

Tanveer said he had complete confidence in the pro-industry approach of the current government and the decision of deferring the strike has been reached on the request of the finance minister who has constituted four committees to resolve the issues.

“These four committees have been constituted to tackle issues related to the Ministry of Commerce, Water and Power, Oil and Gas and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR),” he further informed.

He said the association had already given a detailed presentation on the problems to Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir and the Senate Standing Committee on textile. “There is a consensus from all participants that it is due to the government’s wrong policies that the textile industry is on the verge of a complete shutdown,” he added.

“The government has burdened the industry with Rs38 billion in Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC), Rs78 billion in electricity surcharge and Rs65 billion in innovative taxes,” he said, adding that the total impact of this burden came around Rs157 billion per annum, which is equivalent to 12 percent of the sales of the industry.

Comparing Pakistan’s exports with neighbouring countries, he said textile exports in Vietnam had increased 230%, in Bangladesh 160%, in China 94% and In India 94% during 2006 and 2013.

“On the other hand, Pakistan registered a meagre growth of 22% during the same period, which is even less than the world average of 44%,” he remarked.

He said the viability of the industry and employment of around 15 million workers was at stake because of the undue burden on the sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2015.

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