ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Khalid Iqbal Malik, on Tuesday called upon the government to address the genuine issues of textile industry on a priority basis to save it from further problems.
He said, “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced export incentive package of Rs180 billion for the textile industry, but the government was dragging its feet on its implementation which was creating concerns in the textile industry.”
He said that “The Government should ensure timely implementation of promised package in letter and spirit to revive the industry and improve exports.”
He added that “The tax refunds of around Rs300 billion of textile industry were stuck up with Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) due to which the industry was facing liquidity problems. The government should take measures for prompt clearance of all stuck up tax refunds to ease the woes of the textile industry.”
He said, “Textile sector was playing leading role in exports of the country, but due to lack of attention from the government side, exports were going down. The government should come up with strong measures to rescue the textile industry from current difficulties.”
He said, “As per report of All Pakistan Textiles Mills Association (APTMA), around 150 textile mills have already been closed and warned that if urgent remedial measures were not taken, the whole textile industry could collapse.”
He called upon the government to ensure enforcement of zero-rating of sales tax for the textile industry. He further urged that “The sales tax on packaging materials, spare parts, fuel and energy should be made simple for the textile industry and refunded on priority basis.”
He said, “To turn around the falling exports, the government should adopt a soft approach for the five export-oriented sectors and spare them from new taxes.”
Khalid Iqbal Malik said, “The government should also take necessary steps to save the domestic industry against large-scale import of textile products from neighboring countries.”
He said, “Textile industry has appealed for reduction of gas tariff from Rs.600 per MMBTU to Rs.400 per MMBTU and fixation of electricity tariff at Rs.7 per unit inclusive of all taxes, levies and surcharges.”
He stressed that, “Government should give due consideration to this appeal for bringing down the cost of doing business for this industry.”
He was of the view that, “Addressing the issues of textile industry and reducing power tariffs for it would facilitate the revival of this important industry and contribute positively to promoting country’s exports.”.
