AFTER over 75 years of independence, Pakistan is facing serious crises these days. Our leaders have failed to give primacy to the country’s economy even though they have over the years claimed sincerity to the cause.

The textile industry is the backbone of the national economy, but the law- makers have never shown seriousness about the growth of this critical and export-oriented sector.

Successive governments have launched textile policies for the growth of the sector, but they have failed miserably when it comes to implementing these policies for the betterment of this vital but neglected sector.

The textile policy was announced in March 2022 after a gap of two years, but that policy, as expected, remained on paper and was never implemented.

The national textile sector is never quite sure about the continuity of policies, especially when it comes to conce-ssionary tariff and duty drawback of their taxes.

Owing to policy inconsistency, big players as well as international investors are not interested in investing any further which explains the lack of momentum in the overall national textile sector.

It is time we separated politics from economy, otherwise we will continue to set our goals that will remain unattainable owing to lack of policy consistency.

Another worrying factor is the continuing menace of smuggling. We have failed to stop smuggling of both foreign exchange and commodities. We have a number of excellent laws, but we hardly implement them in the right spirit for the prosperity of the country.

This is mainly because of bad practices on the part of those who are responsible for the implementation of laws in their true spirit. The presence of such elements at the policy level is harmful to the national economy and the growth of the country. The government must take remedial steps to ensure the welfare of the textile industry which has the potential to contribute both directly and indirectly to the national economy.

Yahqub Lodhi
Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2023