LAHORE: The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has opposed the move of imposing regulatory duty on the export of cotton yarn and stated that it would not only distort the momentum gained in exports after decades but will disturb continuity of the government policies for export-led growth.

“A certain group with vested interests is pushing for levying RD on the export of cotton yarn on false pretexts with the intent to agitate the historic high trend of textile exports, roll back investment of more than $4 billion and to deprive the country of projected additional 500,000 jobs,” Aptma Chairman Abdul Rahim Nasir said in a press statement on Sunday.

He emphasized that cotton yarn was sufficiently available in the country for consumption in the value-added sector for export purposes which was evident from the fact that cotton yarn export had declined in past years, enabling the textile sector achieve historic high exports of $15.4 billion.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2021