Proposals incorporated in draft textile policy
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ISLAMABAD: A high-level meeting approved the draft textile policy on Monday and hoped it would be tabled for discussion in the upcoming meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).
The meeting, between Federal Minister for Textile Abbas Khan Afridi and textile stakeholders, discussed proposals forwarded by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms and incorporated them in the draft policy.
On Oct 30, the ECC discussed the draft textile policy in detail and sought improvements in various proposals given in the draft.
A source privy to the Monday’s meeting told Dawn that the representative from the planning ministry presented mainly three nominal changes in the policy — skill development in two phases; cash finance scheme announced in the budget to be removed from the policy; and sector specific recommendations.
The planning commission took two months to come up with these recommendations, the source said.
On the other hand, textile and clothing representatives informed the meeting that they had already approved the draft a few months back and supported the views of the textile policy.
The textile policy 2014-19 aims to double value-addition from $1bn a million bales to $2bn in five years, double textile exports from $13bn to $26bn, and facilitate investment of an additional $5bn in machinery and technology.
Budgetary support, drawback of local taxes and levies, easy finance, sales tax regime, duty-free import of machinery, policy interventions, tariff rationalisation, fibre diversification, product diversification, SME development, enactment of domestic labour laws, revival of sick units, marketing strategies, technology upgradation, establishment of world textile centre and model cotton trading houses, revitalisation of projects like Pakistan Textile City, garment cities and capacity building of the ministry and related organisations are the salient features of the textile policy.
Representatives from Pakistan Textile Exporters Association, All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Towel Manufacturers’ Association of Pakistan, Pakistan Apparel Forum and other textile organisations attended the meeting.
Published in Dawn January 20th , 2015
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