April 12, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 5, 1429

KARACHI, April 11: Federal Commerce Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has assured the apparel industry of a level-playing field for increasing exports of value-added textile goods from $3.5 billion to $30 billion.

Talking to a delegation of Pakistan Apparel Forum which was led by its chairman Naqi Bari in Islamabad on Thursday, the minister expressed the need of conducting a comparative study vis-à-vis India and Bangladesh.

He said that the biggest challenge for the country was to increase exports for reducing the bulging trade deficit. He also underlined the need for regular meetings with all stakeholders to take correct and timely decisions.