SIALKOT, July 25: The gloves industry in Pakistan is facing problems due to a tough competition in the international market particularly for the pricing factor. This was stated by Pakistan Gloves Manufacturers and Exporters Association chairman Mohammad Yaqoob Shaikh while talking to newsmen here on Sunday.

He said the exports of leather products particularly gloves had reached Rs11 billion, but a tough competition in the international market was retarding the progress of the industry.

He said the main competitors were China, India, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam which were providing more incentives to their exporters whereas our government was creating problems for exporters day by day one way or the other.

Association senior vice-chairman Mohammad Younas said they were organizing two major projects in the Sialkot city namely the Leather Products Development Institute (LPDI) and the Cleaning Production Centre (CPC).

The purpose of LPDI was to produce skilled manpower while CPC was responsible for environment programmes in the tanning sector for having a pollution-free atmosphere.

He said very severe impediments had been noted regarding tariff in imports which had to be rationalized. In this connection, there were certain finished items which had to be rationalized to facilitate the exporters to be in a better position to compete in the world market.

PSGMEA chairman Mohammad Younas Sohni said it was noted that the government had already decided to bring at par the prices of export-oriented raw materials. The cost of latex was Rs7,000 per gallon in India whereas its price in Pakistan was Rs20,000 - almost three times.

He urged the government to cooperate in this regard up to the extent to bring them at par with India. He said in case of a delay, a downfall would start in football exports just like the export of tennis and badminton rackets. He also suggested that the sales tax should be reduced from 20 per cent to five per cent to give some relief to the soccer industry.

He said it was astonishing that the sales tax was being charged on zero rates samples which was against the ethics of business norms as internationally the countries introduced sales tax charges against the sale of products, but not on samples.

He urged the CBR that the customs duty and the sales tax should not be levied on samples, parcels and letters sent to foreign customers or received by the exporters because this was a big hurdle in the way to boost exports.

He said the stickers, tags, price sheets etc (sent by foreign customers) which were to be used in production or orders might be exempted from any sort of duty and no bank guarantee should be involved.

He said presently these items were detained at Karachi for indefinite period. He demanded that the sales tax should be reduced on all types of utility bills and urged PIA to reduce its tariff rates.