KARACHI, Sept 30: The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Prgmea) has proposed that the utilities tariff should be fixed for at least three years so that exporters can plan their export commitments for longer period.

The proposal was made at the annual general body meeting of Prgmea held on Thursday. The newly-elected chairman Bilal Mullah said that the garment exporters were facing tough competition in the world market where China offered prices for one year whereas Pakistani exporters resorted to frequent price revision owing to changes in prices of utilities.

The meeting also urged the Ministry of Commerce to streamline working of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to make it convenient with the modern challenges of the global trade. It was also demanded that the EPB should be asked to stop charging exorbitant fee from exporters for participation in international trade fairs.

It noted that the delay in scheduled visits of trade delegations to foreign countries gave bad impression to buyers and this should be avoided. The participants also criticized the role of commercial secretaries posted in embassies as they belong to DMG cadre and know little about export or business.

Bilal Mulla praised the CBR for eliminating sales tax from entire textile chain which had provided 12 to 15 per cent relief in liquidity.

The payment of pending refund claims would further ease the liquidity position, he added.

He called for allocation of grant to run the Prgmea’s training institute at Karachi and Lahore. The Prgmea chief said that a full-fledged research and development (R&D) section would be set up with funds from the Export Development Fund (EDF).