APTMA has urged Pakistan’s new Prime Minister to continue the Regionally Competitive Energy Tariff (RCET) for the textile industry with RLNG price set at $6.5/MMBTU and electricity at 7.5 cents/ unit, immediate provision of gas connections to the new units, extension of load for enhanced capacity, revival of sick units, and reaffirmation for export sector priority in gas allocation.

As per a CCF Group report, APTMA has also urged the Prime Minister to ensure cotton support price for this season was fixed at Rs 8,000 maund. It also demanded a review of duty on Polyester Staple Fibre and removal of anti-dumping duties to enable Pakistani export products to compete internationally. Implementation of a weighted average cost of gas in letter and spirit, enabling uniform and rational gas or RLNG prices across the country, were the some of the other demands of APTMA.

APTMA says, recent 61 per cent growth in textile exports was enabled by the implementation of Regionally Competitive Energy Tariff (RCET), investment of over $5 billion in expansion and establishment of 100 new textile units, resulting in enhanced export capacity of $ 500 million per month.

Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President, Federation of FPCCI, believes, the decline in the country’s cotton production is threatening its economic security. To make its textile products more competitive, Pakistan needs to produce the entire raw materials within the country. It needs to divert cultivation from other crops like sugarcane. This will enable Pakistan to produce an additional five million bales per year and save $5 billion, opines Sheikh.