ISLAMABAD, March 25: Manufacturers and exporters of apparel have warned the government of thousands of job cuts if immediate steps are not taken to enable the industry to compete with India, China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

In a recent letter addressed to Commerce Minister Hamayun Akhtar Khan, the Pakistan Cotton Fashion Apparel Manufacturing and Exporters Association demanded that the government should reduce the manufacturing cost.

Chairman of the association, Dr Shahzad Arshad said that gas and electricity charges were much more expensive in Pakistan than other countries of the region.

He said the existence of the refinance rates issue had further contributed to the problems of the industry.

According to the association, export of readymade garments declined by 6.97 per cent in quantity and 6.67 per cent in terms of value during last month compared to the month before (January 2007).

The Federal Bureau of Statistics figures show the total shipment of apparel last month declined to $99.503million from $106.59million in January.

Despite the 7.59 per cent growth recorded in readymade garments in the first eight of the current financial year, the garment exporters still believe that incentive package that was announced by the government for the textile sector recently had not benefited the industry.

The three per cent subsidy to the fabric exports was increasing the cost of manufacturing for the local garments manufacturers and exporters.

The association warned that the 154 per cent growth in yarn export in the first eight months of the current financial year is not a good sign for the value added sector of the country.

“This clearly means that we provide raw material at low rates to our regional competitors in the form of yarn and made our whole value added sector further uncompetitive,” the association said.