LAHORE, Sept 21: Pakistan must strive to obtain better concessions and greater market access for its goods, especially textiles, to the European Union market. This was stated by the newly-elected chairman of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma), Mr Arif Saeed, while talking to Dawn here on Tuesday.

"We have been a staunch partner (of the West) in the war against terrorism and a major victim of its fallout, hence we need to impress upon the EU nations to allow us greater market access like several other countries which have been given concessions of lower or zero tariffs for their exports to the EU," he said.

He was optimistic that President Gen Pervez Musharraf would take up the issue during his proposed meeting with the new EU president from Netherlands in New York on September 25 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. "We are asking for only a level-playing field with our competitors," he said.

Mr. Saeed said the expansion undertaken by the industry in the recent years would pay dividends only if the government succeeds in getting greater market access in the EU and the US.

He said Pakistan had suffered more than any other country as a result of the war against terrorism as foreign buyers and investors were reluctant to visit the country since 9/11, hampering investment in textiles despite the fact that Pakistan remains the most suitable place for relocating basic textile units that are closing down in the EU and the US.

He said Pakistan was probably the largest consumer of the US PIMA cotton and had the potential to consume all additional long-staple cotton that would be available following the closure of basic textile units in the US due to higher production costs involved.

He said Pakistan must strive for duty-free access to the US market at least on products made from cotton imported from there. The Aptma chairman claimed that a majority of his member mills had already ventured into value-added sectors of knitwear and woven garments.

He complained that highly contaminated local cotton and protection given to a multinational company on polyester staple fibre was blocking the growth of the industry. "If manmade fibres are made available to the industry at international rates, we would add another five million spindles to our already installed capacity of 10.2 million spindles."

He said industry desired no concessions from the government. "We only want liberalization of all the raw materials by the industry." He was appreciative of the government decision to set up a separate textile ministry and stressed the need for bringing in technocrats familiar with the textile sector in it.