FAISALABAD: The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has announced to shut down textile industry throughout the country by Saturday. The statement came just a day after Pakistan’s towel and bedsheet manufacturers, exporters announced shutting down their operations owing to cotton shortage.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, APTMA said that since the government had withdrawn competitive energy prices, the industry was left with no option but to shut down its operations across the country. It said some 1600 textile mills had already shut down, while a total closure of the entire textile sector would render some 5 million workers jobless.
Besides this, the statement said, closure of textile sector would serve as a fatal blow to country’s economy as textile sector shared a major chunk of country’s exports revenue.
APTMA said in order to steer country out of the present economic crisis, it was imperative to give a boost to country’s exports, for which the government must come forward and provide electricity and gas to textile sector on market competitive rates, and ensure uninterrupted supplies as well.
