March 18, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1429

FAISALABAD, March 17: An upward of 18 per cent hike in POL prices within a fortnight has baffled the textile exporters who are finding it hard to cope with the challenges of the global market.

Keeping in view the tough circumstances for the textile industry, a delegation of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma), led by chairman Iqbal Ibrahim, called on Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) members to chalk out a strategy for adopting a long-term textile vision in future.

PTEA Chairman Tahir Ishaque said that energy crisis, worsening law and order situation and high cost of production were badly affecting the textile industry.

He suggested that relief in mark-up, continuing of R&D facility and preferential treatment to the textile industry were the major issues that required urgent attention of the new government.

Endorsing the viewpoint of the PTEA chairman, Mr Ibrahim said the textile sector had been facing tough competition and ever-increasing cost of doing business in the country was the biggest problem.

He said textile exporters were finding it difficult to compete with their rivals in the international market. The energy crisis could be controlled through privatization of the public sector power units, freezing of gas and electricity tariff for textile industry.

He also proposed self-sufficiency in cotton crop and viable financial cost for long-term financing and human resource development.

Pakistani textile exports could jump to $40 billion with proper planning and strategy, he said. The government should take cognizance of the changing trends of crop cultivation in view of new bio-fuel technology, he said.

CONGRESS: A three-day National Congress of Zoology will be held at the Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF) here on Tuesday (today).

The Zoological Society of Pakistan and the GCUF are organizing the event.

Scientists interested in various disciplines of zoological sciences would take part in the 28th Pakistan Congress of Zoology and present plenary lectures and oral presentations.

Dr Shahid Mahmood Rana said the congress would cover all the major areas of zoology and related disciplines including, bioinformatics, environmental biotechnology, bioremediation, genetics, toxicology and parasitology.