KARACHI, July 22: Access to additional textile quota of $11 million granted by Turkey will serve as catalyst towards bolstering country’s textile exports.

Briefing the media here on Monday, the denim manufacturers termed the grant of extra 3,000 tons of textile related exports quota as major achievement of the commerce minister.

Aggressive policy pursued by the government towards getting new market access, they viewed, would jack up exports to new heights.

Seven leading denim manufacturers said that enhanced production capacity of denim material would enable the country to exploit the opportunity in an effective manner to export up to 2,000 tons of extra denim to Turkey.

Responding to a question, the denim manufacturers said that new access to the Turkish market with additional quota would unfold further avenues of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Turkey, they said, had also verbally agreed to enhance this quota facility up to 2004, on the request of Pakistan but it would be formally discussed during the Turkish commerce minister’s visit here in September.

Total trade volume between Pakistan and Turkey was to the tune of $147 million during 2000-01, with $100 million exports and $47 million imports as against $61 million in 1999-2000 and $38 million in 1998-99. During July-April period of 2001- 02, Pakistan’s exports to Turkey were to the tune of $76 million with imports at $23 million.

Pakistan and Turkey, they said, were keen to intensify their efforts to further increase and diversify the trade between the two countries to a higher level preferably on mutually advantageous and balanced basis.

Those who briefed newsmen included Yaqoob Ahmed of Artistic Denim Mills, Tariq Shafi of Crescent group, Ibrahim Weldon of X-Pertex Denim Mills, Amin Bandukda of Al-Amin Denim, Hanif Machera of Kassim Textile Mills, Khalid Majid of Meco and Zain Dilawar of Abbas Dyeing.

In a separate statement issued on Monday, Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig of Pak-Denim had hailed the sincere efforts of Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood for obtaining additional Turkish quota of 3,000 tons from Turkey.

He was part of the Joint Ministerial Commission team, who negotiated this additional quota from their Turkish counterpart.

The agreement allows utilization of maximum 2,000 tons quota under any one category.

Dr Baig said that Pakistan was exporting large quantity of denim fabric under Quota T2A category to Turkey, which had been fully utilized. With the availability of this additional 2,000 tons quota, Pakistan will be able to export more cotton fabric to Turkey.