September 24, 2006	Sunday	Sha'aban 30, 1427

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FAISALABAD, Sept 23: Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) outgoing chairman Rana Asif Touseef has said that the lack of a level playing-field will make exports costlier and render them incompetitive in international markets which may result in collapse of the industry.

Speaking to the press along with the newly elected chairman, Zahid Aslam, here on Saturday, he said, “We are rapidly losing our foreign customers and seeking prompt assistance from the government. Owing to facilities given by the Indian and Bangladesh governments to their businessmen, our textile exports have shown a considerable decline.”

Mr Touseef apprehended that textile exports would further decrease if the government did not take immediate steps. He said textile products were already under stress because of the continuous increase in production cost and other internal and external factors. And if, Mr Touseef said, the current situation persisted, “We will not be able after six months to run our businesses.”

Without zero-rated facilities, the government could not succeed to increase exports, he maintained.

The outgoing chief said as many as $180 billion had been invested in different industries while textile machinery imports had shown a 17.8 per cent decline, which required immediate attention of policy makers.

“We don’t want any subsidy, we only want a level playing-field which will facilitate us to combat market challenges.”

He urged the government to take measures to decrease production cost and suspend the decision of social security and old-age benefits for a year, as the Sindh government had already withdrawn such restrictions.