The Board of Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) here on Friday approved Rs 690.65 million budget for the financial year 2017-18 in order to meet the financial requirements of the Committee.
The 85th meeting of the PCCC held here with Minister for Commerce and Textile Industry Muhammad Pervaiz Malik in the chair to discuss the matters of committee.
The Commerce Minister welcomed the participants and said that the present govt. is highly focused on facilitating the textile sector and that this committee can play a significant role as Pakistan’s Textile Sector has tremendous Potential.
The Commerce Minister further said that PCCC needs to have clear goals and work relentlessly and in coordination to achieve them in time.
The agenda items were discussed one by one in the meeting. The agenda of the meeting consisted of confirmation of the minutes of 84th meeting of PCCC held on 21-12-2016, approval of revised budget 2016-17 and budget estimates of 2017-18, adoption of reports of executive sub-committee and agricultural research sub-committee and restructuring plan of PCCC.
The honorable minister was informed that regarding the restructuring plan of PCCC, comments from the concerned ministries have been received.
Mr. Mohammad Pervaiz Malik directed that a tangible proposal be prepared in consultation with all the stake holders for the restructuring of PCCC and should be presented in the next meeting.
The minister said that the present government and commerce ministry are committed for the support and facilitation of the Textile Sector and will take every step to build the confidence of businessmen associated with cotton and textile. Minister expressed confidence that in spite of challenging international environment Pakistani Textile exporters have the ability to rise to the challenge and grow Pakistani exports.
He also asked for formulating a committee comprising on the members of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), members of the National Assembly, farmers and other bodies involved in cotton trade and research to formulate a comprehensive policy for research and development of advanced cotton varieties to optimizing the per-acre crop output.
Commerce Minister also directed for removing the concerns of APTMA and formulating business plan in order to make the organization more efficient.
Meanwhile, Cotton Commissioner Dr Khalid Abdullah informed the meeting that PCCC developed 11 cotton varieties during last year, whereas 291 experiments were made and 68 varieties were tested during the period under review.
The committee tested pesticides at 17 location and organized training courses for cotton farmers on pre and post-harvest mechanism.
He informed the committee that receivables from the 166 local textile mills in terms of cotton cess had reached to Rs 625 million, whereas recovery of the cotton cess was also declined.
The PCCC was informed that income in terms of cotton cess had also reduced as it was recorded at Rs 209.60 million in 2016-17 as against the receiving of Rs 529.76 million of 2013-14.
