Textile millers ready to invest $1bln if business environment improves

KARACHI: Textile millers are ready to annually invest one billion dollars if the government would ensure ease of doing business to double exports in the next five years, an industry’s representative said on Monday.

All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Central Chairman Amanullah Kassim Machiyara said industrialists are all set to invest one billion dollars annually in case the government ensures a congenial environment to double the exports in next five years.

“The government is expected to restore the confidence level of the textile millers by announcing the textile package sooner,” Machiyara said, delivering a speech through a video link to all zonal members. The meeting was held on the occasion of 61st annual general meeting of Aptma.

The newly-elected office bearers, including Senior Vice Chairman Rehman Naseem, vice chairmen Naveed Ahmed and Syed Taimoor Shah and newly-elected members of the central executive committee were attended the meeting.

“We will not leave any stone unturned for taking forward the agenda of growth and sustainability of the textile industry, while ensuring regional competitiveness,” Aptma’s newly-elected chief said. “Aptma members are suffering from major issues.”

Machiyara said textile industry, which is the mainstay of economy, is currently passing through unprecedented period of crisis. “Consequently, the capacity to produce over $4 billion worth of exports was already closed.”

The government realised the negative fallout of losing competitiveness on the country’s exports last fiscal year. Exports fell one percent to $22.979 billion during the last fiscal year as “strong negative price effect dominated the positive quantity effect,” the finance ministry said in a statement last month. Exports, however, recovered 2.79 percent to $3.753 billion in the July-August period of FY2020. Textile exports, which constitute more than 60 percent share of total exports, increased 2.3 percent year-on-year in value over during the first two months of the current fiscal year.

Value-added exports of textile items like knitwear, which comprises 14.4 percent of total exports, increased both in quantity and value by 10.7 and 12.8 percent, respectively. Readymade garments, constituting share of 12.5 percent in exports, increased both in quantity and value by 34.6 and 7.5 percent, respectively.

“Value-added exports increased due to growing demand and improvement in export competitiveness after exchange rate adjustment,” the ministry said. Bedwear with a share of 10.7 percent in exports, increased both in quantity and in value by 20.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. Aptma has been demanding of the government to remove levies on cotton imports to help the industry in increasing textile exports.