February 14, 2019: The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Patron-in-Chief Gohar Ejaz has demanded the government of constituting a Special Task Force to revive $3 billion export production.
He said over three million spindles and 2000 Airjet/shuttleless looms shut down in Punjab since 2010, primarily due to high cost and non-availability of energy.
While calling it a win-win situation both for the country and the industry, he said one million immediate jobs are linked with the revival and growth of the textile industry.
Such a huge loss in terms of investment, production and employment and consequent contribution to the national economy was uncalled for, he asserted.
Gohar appreciated the present government for providing a competitive energy solution that has lit up a ray of hope in the industry circles, vying for its revival.
He said the exporting industry requires an urgent attention of the economic managers for provisioning of enabling measures for the industry to regain ground in technology up gradation (BMR) and a compatible mechanism to attract new investment in order to mitigate the impact of capacity loss.
He said the industry is looking forward to a long term policy on cotton and polyester production for industry consumption, immediate liquidation of pending refunds of claimants and revival of sick units.
He said the textile industry has enormous potential to regain its lost glory and reemerge as destination for sourcing textile and clothing products.
