Islamabad-Advisor to the Prime Minister on Textile Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig has said that the textile industry is playing a major contribution in the development of the national economy and government is planning many new measures to further improve the performance of textile industry to make it a vibrant and dynamic sector of the economy.
Addressing a big gathering of business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry during his visit to ICCI, Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig said there is a great potential to increase our textile exports to Turkey and Iran as Iran is buying Pakistani textile products (fabric) from Turkey due to concessional tariff.
He underscored that that Pakistan can reap rich benefits by directly supplying our textile products to Iran. Advisor to Prime Minister on Textile said to support exports of textile products, R&D facility will be revived while establishment of internationally accredited testing laboratories including Okotex certification will be encouraged in major cities.
He said presently our textile products are sent to Hong Kong and other countries for testing to meet buyer's requirements while due to non-availability of Okotex certifying laboratory in Pakistan our fabrics are sent to UK and other European countries for Okotex certification which is a costly and time consuming process.
He said the establishment of such testing facilities in Pakistan will prove more cost effective and beneficial for our textile industry leading to further increase in exports of textile products. Elaborating upon his vision about textile sector, Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig said government plans to improve the supply chain of textile industry, ensure availability of clean raw cotton at competitive rates so that productivity of textile sector could be further enhanced. He said government will take steps to add value by converting our raw material into value added textile products and to reduce cost of doing business by enhancing the productivity of human resources and their skill development.
He assured the business community that whatever government is able to squeeze in terms of providing relief to textile industry, in consideration of existing budgetary constraints, shall be passed on to this industry so that it could play a more effective role for the development of the country. Before this, in his welcome address, President ICCI Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi thanked Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig for sparing some time for business community and highlighted the key role of textile industry in the national economy as it contributes more than 60 percent to the country's total exports.
He touched upon the major hurdles in the growth of textile sector like high interest rates, high energy cost, shortage of skilled labor, obsolete technology etc. and suggested that lowering of mark up rate, ensuring uninterrupted power supply, enhancing skills and providing latest training to labor force as well as upgrading technology of textile sector will greatly improve the productivity of textile industry and enhance its exports. He assured the Advisor to Prime Minister on Textile that business community will extend full support to the government in solving their problems and in creating more business friendly environment for the growth of investment and economic activities in the country.