KARACHI, April 4: Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA) chairman Masood Naqi on Thursday said that garment exports to the US had come to a complete halt that forced the exporters to divert their products to the EU market.

In a statement, PRGMEA chief said this created a cutthroat competition among the exporters, resulting in drastic fall in per unit price of garment to the EU market.

Masood Naqi said that other textile quota exports to the US has also dropped by over 25 per cent while exports of fabric increased in some categories between 25 to 88 per cent.

The difference in value addition can be seen from the fact that the average unit price of garment is $17.42 per kg against average unit price of $4.93 per kg in case of fabrics. This indicates an alarming trend which will be reflected in considerable decline in foreign exchange earnings, he added.

Masood Naqi draws the attention of the commerce minister towards PRGMEA’s working paper submitted to him in Cologne on the even of Interjeans fair in February 2002, suggesting restoration of duty drawback rates as it was on June 30, 2001.

He said any further delay in revising duty drawback rates will be disastrous for the value added textile industry.

Similarly, Masood Naqi said there had been a long standing demand of PRGMEA for setting up a ‘garment board’ to boost the export of value added textiles.

PRGMEA chief said that even the finance minister had also pledged to restore the old duty drawback rates in a recent meeting with Aptma in Karachi. The latest assurance, he said, came from the Federal Export Board, the meeting of which was chaired by President Pervez Musharraf.

Masood Naqi said that it was now up to the government to realize the gravity of the situation and act swiftly to provide relief to the export of value added products.