02 October 2004	Saturday	16 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Oct 1: The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) has decided to launch a vigorous diplomatic campaign to persuade European Union member states to extend the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for one more year i.e. 2005.

Under the programme, the PRGMEA will hold meeting and give presentation to the European Union representative in Islamabad. It will also hold meetings with diplomats of EU member states. Efforts will also be made to seek some time with the German chancellor during his two-day visit (October 10-11) to Islamabad.

This was decided in the annual general body meeting of the PRGMEA held on Thursday evening for handing over of chairman's office from the South zone to the North zone.

The post of the chairmanship rotates between the two zones on annual basis. Outgoing chairman Tahir Aziz handed over the post to newly elected chairman Ijaz Ahmed Khokar from Sialkot.

The meeting regretted that the government functionaries did not take trade bodies' elected representatives into confidence before holding crucial talks with the EU and the US authorities while seeking free access for textile products.

The meeting adopted a resolution urging the government to involve elected representatives of various exporters' associations in talks over crucial market problems with the EU and the US.

Presenting annual report, Tahir Aziz told the meeting that he held a meeting with the German commercial counsellor in Karachi on Wednesday and requested him to convey exporters' concern over expiry of the GSP on December 31, 2004.

The German counsellor provided guidance to the PRGMEA on how to approach EU member states on the issue. Mr Aziz said he had also met Pakistani diplomats in Spain and Sweden and requested them to take up the extension issue with the governments of their host states.

The PRGMEA also held a seminar on "Ramification of GSP", which provided a chance to government officials, exporters and buying agents to express their views on the duty-free access due to expire this year.

Mr Aziz said that another burning issue facing the garment industry was the temporary extension of SRO410, which allowed the duty-free import of raw materials and accessories to the exporters.

He said the government had promised to make the Duty and Tax Remission Rules for Export (DTRE) exporters friendly, which would be as good as the provisions of SRO410. The meeting was informed that Tahir Aziz has been appointed chairman of the steering committee set up to monitor work on the establishment of garment city in Karachi.

The outgoing PRGMEA chairman informed the meeting that the association was in the forefront of the efforts aimed at evolving a Pakistan compliance initiative (PCI) to meet requirements of the new world trade order.

Addressing the meeting, new chairman Ijaz Ahmed Khokar announced plans to set up a third technical training centre at Sialkot, which had been converted from the city of sports goods to the venue of sport garments, for improving skills of industry workers. The association is already operating two training centres one each in Karachi and Lahore.