Chinese firm to setup textile unit in Karachi

KARACHI: One of the leading Chinese textile machinery manufacturers, Qingdao Haijia has started negotiations to establish a manufacturing plant for its products in Karachi, a top Chinese industry official told The News.

The Chinese company conveyed this interest during the 10th International Textile Machinery and Garment Technology Exhibition (IGATEX) 2017 at the Expo Centre on Wednesday.  Hassan Iqbal, federal secretary of textile industry, inaugurated the three-day exhibition along with the government officials and industry people.

He said it was a sign of pride that the international exhibition was back in Karachi after several years. “It is an international level event. Around 60 percent economy in the country revolves around the textile sector, so there is need of more such programmes,” he said.

Qingdao Haijia Machinery Co Ltd’s minister of international trade Eiffel told The News that they have planned to establish their Waterjet and Airjet Loom machines in Karachi. “We are waiting for the trade policies to become feasible to establish the manufacturing plant here,” she said. Qingdao Haijia has a major share in textile machinery exports of China with its customers in Pakistan, India, South and North Koreas, Vietnam, Indonesia, Egypt, Nepal, and other countries.

KCA seeks tax review on cotton import KARACHI: The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) on Wednesday appealed the government to review a reported proposal regarding the levy of duty and taxes on import of raw cotton.

KCA officials said cotton crop failure in season 2015-16 and shortfall in cotton crop season 2016-17 had compelled most of the local textile mills to import raw cotton from abroad.

Claiming that cotton import was crucial for the textile industry to meet the requirements of basic raw material, KCA officials said levy of any tax on imported cotton would considerably increase their cost of doing business.

It would make the local textile products uncompetitive in the international market, they said, and urged the authorities to continue with the free trading policy of cotton, they said in a statement Free exports and import of cotton without any qualitative restrictions in the coming years was said to safeguard the interest of all sections of the cotton business.