LAHORE, June 20: Manufacturers opposed the decision to import paper from India, describing it as disastrous for the national industry at a seminar held at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday. Convener of chamber’s standing committee on paper Shamim Ahmad said the Pakistan’s paper industry comprising 100 units was no match for its Indian counterpart consisting of 515 units. The Indian industry was not only larger than that of Pakistan, but it was also technologically advanced, he said and added that the high input costs also made it impossible for the local industry to compete with India’s.

Pakistan Paper, Pulp and Board Manufacturers Association chairman Kamran Khan said the national paper industry was labour-cum-capital intensive with over a $1 billion investment. It was substituting $300 million imports annually and was providing direct and indirect employment to more than 100,000 people in the country. Removal of paper from the negative list of items importable from India would be disastrous for the national industry, he claimed.

He said the industry was meeting the country’s paper demand by utilizing the wheat straw as a major raw material providing farmers with an opportunity to earn a good price for their agricultural waste.

The industry also recycled the municipal waste like old newspapers, cartons and packaging material, to produce paper and board. It was also contributing to the government efforts for promotion of education by supplying paper and board for textbooks at reasonable rates, he said.

Giving a briefing on the paper industry, Aizad Sajid said the government should provide a level playing field to the industry by cutting the cost of utilities and the sales tax on paper in case it wanted to compete with India’s.

Chamber president Mian Misbahur Rehman said the LCCI would plead the paper industry’s case with economic managers of the country, but the manufacturers should get ready for the opening of the local market under WTO and Safta by adopting innovative techniques for cutting their production costs to supply their products at competitive prices in the regional and international markets.