KARACHI: North Karachi Association of Trade & Industry (NKATI) President, Faisal Moiz Khan has expressed deep concern over the unavailability of cotton and cotton yarn, urging Prime Minister Imran Khan to abolish all taxes and duties on cotton yarn import, which is the basic raw material of the textile industry.
According to a statement issued today (Tuesday), the NKATI president warned that if taxes, customs, and regulatory duty are not abolished then the execution of export orders will be jeopardized. “This will result in significant financial losses to exporters in the event of cancellation of export orders,” he added.
“As the effects of the coronavirus epidemic have gradually receded around the world, Pakistan has begun to receive a large number of export orders for apparel and home textile products but due to high prices, industrial production activities are being hampered which is making it difficult for exporters to fulfill foreign orders on time”, he feared.
NKATI president emphasized that the government should take immediate notice and take steps to provide relief to the industries so that they can meet the production demand by importing cotton and cotton yarn from Turkey, Vietnam, Oman and Tajikistan at reasonable prices.
“The Spinning sector is allowed duty-free import of cotton while apparel and home textile sectors are not allowed duty-free import of cotton yarn which is a discrimination”, he said, adding, “Therefore, if our demand is not taken seriously immediately, Pakistan will not be able to take advantage of this golden opportunity of export orders from global markets and we fear a decline in exports of textile products.”
Faisal Moiz Khan appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan to immediately abolish taxes, customs and regulatory duty on the import of cotton and cotton yarn in the best economic interest of the country. “So that basic raw material may be available to the textile industry at reasonable prices as per the production demand, which will definitely increase exports as well as have a positive impact on the domestic economy,” he concluded.
