12 September 2004	Sunday	26 Rajab 1425

FAISALABAD, Sept 11: Federal Minister for Textile Industry Ch. Mushtaq Ali Cheema has said that the government will extend every possible help to the private sector for the revival of the weaving sector.

Speaking in Faisalabad on Saturday, the minister said that powerloom sector also needed utmost attention of the government for replacement of the old units with shuttle-less automatic looms.

He said that at present over 250,000 powerlooms were operating in the unorganized sector out of which 125,000 were operating in Faisalabad alone. He said that his ministry would try its best to arrange soft loans for powerloom owners to upgrade and modernize their units with the latest state-of-the-art technology.

Commenting over the developmental activities in Faisalabad, the minister told that he was in constant touch with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Punjab Chief Minister Ch. Pervaiz Ellahi to get special development package for the city.

He said that the roads and streets of the city would be developed and water supply and sewerage system would be improved further. About the industrial development, the minister said that the federal government had already approved the establishment of a Garment City, while the provincial government had also approved an industrial estate near Faisalabad. +IBw-These two projects would create hundreds of new jobs after their completion, the minister added.

Mr Cheema pointed out that his ministry would try to boost the textile exports by giving lucrative incentives to the exporters and cheaper availability of the inputs to make our exports more competitive on the world markets.