Lahore, (PRESS RELEASE) (Parliament Times): The Pakistan Industrial & Traders Association Front Chairman Mian Nauman Kabir has lauded the government for granting continuation of electricity and gas subsidy for export sector, asking the authorities to provide the same relief in energy tariffs to whole industry in the country to support the momentum of growth during fiscal year 2021-22.
In a joint statement with vice chairman Javed Siddiqi, he said that approval of Rs.68 billion for extension of concessional rates of electricity and RLNG was important for sustained increase in exports by providing energy at regionally competitive rates. He emphasized the need to keep incentivizing export-oriented sectors in order to take the exports to the next level, as the exports have increased from $21.39 billion to $25.30 billion, up by 18.28 percent. He said that there is no denying of the fact that the government has been facing numerous economic challenges besides other internal and external issues and problems during the last three years. The PIAF appreciates that the PM and his team of economic managers in a determined and committed manner been facing the economic challenges squarely and boldly taking all difficult decisions required and successfully progressing from recovery and stabilization of the national economy to sustainable growth. He said that textile industry has been maintaining top position in exports and is the lifeline of Pakistan’s exports, which would be further increased after this decision of government relief to this sector. With the resolution of hampering issues, he hoped the share of export could go high further in FY 2020-21.
PIAF vice chairman Javed Siddiqi said that it is good news that country’s exports have shown positive growth, which is a vindication of the government’s policy to keep the wheels of economy running during the Covid-19 pandemic. He extends congratulations to the commerce ministry and the whole nation for achieving record exports. Greetings also to the industry and exporters on achieving record growth in this period, hoping the trend will continue with government full support to promote export culture. He said that the growth in exports of value-added sectors contributed to an increase in overall exports from all sectors. He said that Pakistan’s value-added sector achieved growth because of preferential access to the 28-nation European Union under the GSP+ scheme which can further be enhanced with the government’s support. He said that Pakistan direly needed to establish an Aggressive Marketing Plan for garment export to get maximum benefits of GSP-Plus status. He observed that the garment industry is less capital intensive, provides 4 times as many jobs for the same investment, uses less energy and adds more value. He said that export sector can play leading role in earning foreign exchange and boosting growth. He suggested the government to establish a taskforce, especially at a time when Chinese industry, which has more than 30 percent share of world apparel market, is relocating.