denying the private sector the advantage of low prices, he said.
He said the exporters are living on edge and cannot go for alternative power production because of the mistrust created by the government policies.
Adil Butt, a knitwear exporter, said Rs60 billion Export Development Fund contributed by the exporters from their own resources is lying with the government.
“It is not being used for promotion of exports,” he said, adding, the Ministry of Finance is sitting on these funds, which belong to the exporters.
There is a tussle between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Textiles, he said, adding, this leads to non-utilisation of the Export Development Fund.
To boost exports, the ministries of commerce, textiles, finance, water and power and petroleum would have to be on one page, he said, adding, through coordination and prudent management 24 hours power and gas supplies to the exporting sector could be managed.
Butt said many leading knitwear units have closed down due to financial crunch caused by stuck up refunds or unavailability of gas and power.
He said some units closed down due to heavy penalties they faced for delay in shipments. Some of the state-of-the-art units closed down in the last few years included Highnoon Textiles, Irfan Textiles, Zeinal Textiles, Needle Point and Azam Knit and Yarn Dying, he said, adding, most of these units employed a workforce of over 4,000 each.
M I Khurram, another knitwear player, said it is tragic that the knitwear industry is in turmoil not because of its incompetence or compatibility, but due to the failure of the state to fulfill its obligation of providing basic infrastructure to the industry.
“It is extremely painful to refuse an export order because of power shortages deny it the ability to operate at full capacity,” he added.
He said dismayed by the non-friendly business policies of the government several exporters have established their units in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
However, he said, they had to pack up, as the Indian lobbies in both these countries make it very difficult for Pakistanis to operate. “We as investors do not get the government support that is provided to their investors in foreign soils by the Indian government,” he added.