KARACHI, Oct 31: Leather garment industry is seeking relief package from the government to make it competitive and also help arrest rapidly falling exports. The industry apprehends that if the government does not come forward to salvage the value-added exports many units producing leather garments will close down.

Adviser to Pakistan Leather Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Plgmea) Fawad Ijaz Khan in a statement issued on Tuesday said that the industry was currently facing severe crisis and exports were also declining.

He urged the government to extend support in the shape of Research and Development (R&D) to save the value-added industry from total collapse. He said that Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan had recommended six per cent R&D support to the leather garment industry in August 2005 but ever since the file of this case had been shuttling between the Prime Minister secretariat, ministry of finance and ministry of commerce.

He said that the main reason for not allowing R&D support was 53 per cent increase in export of leather garments and leather goods to $502 million during 2005-06 from $329 million in 2004-05. This tremendous increase in official figures of exports of leather goods was recorded from August 2005 to June 2006.

However, he said that after thorough investigation the association had pointed out to the EPB and ministry of commerce that approximately $220 million worth of exports were not actual and genuine.

As a result of this the government with the help of Plgmea restricted the exports of non-genuine exporters during 2006-07 which resulted in 45 per cent decline in leather goods exports to $77 million from $140 million during July-Sept 2005-06.