A Senate body on Tuesday was informed that all preparation was in full swing to sign a new draft Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China on 28th of this month after it gets approval from cabinet since the earlier one gave fewer benefits to our local industry.
For signing the agreement, around 100 delegates are visiting China during. This was informed to the Senate Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile Industry, which held today in parliament house while Senator Mirza Khan Afridi was the chair.
The FTA with China would give us duty free access to their market and now Pakistan will have the same status as other ASEAN countries enjoy. After the FTA signed, it will depend on Pakistani businesses to provide good quality products to meet their competitors. The Committee noted that there is a need to carryout value chain analysis of the textile production industry.
Leader of the House Senator Shibli Faraz, Senator Nuzhat Sadiq, Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak, Senator Ghous Bakhsh Niazi, Advisor on Commerce and Textile Industry Abdur Razzak Dawood and concerned official attended the meeting. The committee was told about details of the number of persons working in Textile Division its attached departments, authorities, corporations, autonomous/semi-autonomous bodies and organizations on a question of Senator Meer Kabeer Shahi. The Committee members sought details of proper observation of quota in all the departments and also asked to bring a thorough job description and justification of the huge human resource under the ministry. The ministry was directed to fill all the vacant posts on quota of Balochistan within three months.
The Committee chairman observed that the National Textile University Faisalabad is working well but there should be a mechanism for proper commercialization of the research products and there should be a linkage of academia and industry. He said that textile engineers in Pakistan are still working on raw cotton and don’t have proper knowledge of synthetic cotton. The advisor assured the Committee that the ministry is taking steps which will increase our international market share. The issue of under invoicing was also discussed which is damaging the economy and revenue generation as well as giving way to money laundering. The Committee observed that this comes under the Federal Board of Revenue but it effects commerce division and decided to call FBR as well to the next meeting.
The Committee deferred briefing by TDAP due to some anomalies in the presentation as well as due to absence of senior officials being in China for the FTA signing engagements.
