LAHORE: Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufa­cturers & Exporters Association (Prgmea) has urged the government to allocate at least Rs60 billion for export-oriented industry in the budget 2017-18 under the prime minister’s Rs180bn package.Pgrmea Chairman Ijaz Khokhar asked the government to honour its pledge to clear pending tax refunds of exporters without any further delay. “Incentives will not be effective unless the prime minister takes ownership of exports.”

He stated that the prime minister should appoint a full-time minister for the textile industry. He demanded the government to introduce a liberal import policy for raw material which are not being manufactured locally.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2017