One more corona patient dies in Multan

MULTAN: A corona patient died at the Nishtar Hospital here on Saturday.

Dr Manzar Hussain, 40, who belonged to Vehari district, died at the hospital. The health officials said that total 100 corona patients were under treatment at the Multan Nishtar Hospital, including 45 positive, 20 suspects and 35 negative.

As many as 1,941 corona tests were conducted in all four districts of Multan division and out of them, 35 tested positive while 5,917 patients were waiting their lab reports. Similarly, 1,737 corona tests were conducted and 18 of them tested positive while 4,753 lab test reports were not received yet in Multan district.

Likewise, 80 tests were conducted and out of them, five tested positive while the reports of 141 patients were not received in Khanewal district. The officials told that seven corona tests were conducted but not a single person tested corona positive in Lodhran district.

Govt to import cotton: The government has decided to import cotton from

Tajikistan to meet the domestic needs and combat the growing shortage of yarn.

It was said by All Pakistan Bedsheets and Upholstery Manufacturers Association chairman Khawaja Muhammad Younis while talking to journalists after a meeting of the APBUMA delegation with Abdul Razzak Dawood, Advisor of the Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile and Investment. Khawaja Younis said that the PM advisor was very keen to expand the textile sector, adding that he also said that the government had reduced Regulatory Duty on yarn import, which was a temporary arrangement. A Tajik delegation had visited Pakistan, a couple of days back for trade negotiations, he told.

It was a plan to visit Tajikistan soon to finalise a deal for cotton import, he revealed. The government was also taking measures for self reliance, he added.

He informed that the PM Advisor Abdur Razzaq Dawood said that new textile policy would be implemented with a will to boost our exports and sustain it.

The APBUMA chairman said that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had decided to establish an Expo Centre in Multan to promote the business activities in the South Punjab region.

Khawaja Muhammad Younis said that he had informed the advisor that Pakistan’s value added sector depends upon continuous supply of yarn which was adversely affected by cotton shortfall across the country.

He underlined the need for achieving the goals of sustainable development in the textile sector.

He said that there was a need not only to improve volumes but quality of local grown cotton as well. Khawaja Muhammad Younis appreciated the advisor for his efforts in drafting and approval of Textile Policy 2020-25.

He stressed the need of ownership for the proposed initiatives in the said policy by all the concerned ministries.

He said that the APBUMA delegation members also supported the policies of the government, resultantly, the textile sector was flourishing. Khawaja Muhammad Younis said that the advisor agreed that despite various policies issued by the SBP to support the industrial sector, there was much more needed to support the SMEs sector.

Khawaja Muhammad Younis said that the APBUMA delegation also highlighted the lack of representation of SMEs at any policy making platform. He urged the advisor that the APBUMA largely represents textile SMEs, more than 90pc to be precise, and must be granted representation in the proposed National Export Development Board. Khawaja Muhammad Younis said that the APBUMA delegation also shared issues related to DDT claims, increase of freight by the shipping lines and some other pertaining matters.

The PM advisor assured the delegation of his full cooperation and hoped that the government and textile sector would go together to achieve sustainable growth, he added.