KARACHI, Sept 25: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) chairman Mohammad Iqbal Ibrahim has said the special textile package, approved by the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet on Wednesday, does not in any way address the core issues of the industry.

In a statement on Thursday, the Aptma chairman reminded the government of its commitments made to textile industry on restoring research and development support facility in the current fiscal year. This facility remains suspended since June 25, 2008.

He said the industry’s repeated pleas to freeze gas and electricity tariff for at least one year had also fallen on deaf ears. He expressed regrets that the stakeholders were never taken on board while formulating policies on gas and energy tariffs.