APTMA calls for 'textile emergency' in Pakistan amid deepening crisis

The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has called for the imposition of a nationwide “textile emergency” and demanded a sharp reduction in electricity and gas prices to pull the industry out of a deepening crisis.

According to a report aired by the 24NewsHD TV channel, a joint press conference of industrial associations was held on Wednesday in Faisalabad under the chairmanship of APTMA Chairman Kamran Arshad.

Former APTMA chairman Naveed Gulzar and Faheem Javed of the JK Group also attended the press conference, along with Muhammad Ali Chaudhry of Resham Textile, Power Loom Owners Association Chairman Waheed Khaliq Ramay, Sizing Association President Shakeel Ansari, and representatives of other industrial bodies.

The participants demanded that electricity tariffs be fixed at 9 cents per unit and gas prices at 22 cents per MMBTU to make the textile sector competitive and sustainable.

Addressing the press conference, APTMA Chairman Kamran Arshad said the textile industry was on the verge of collapse and could not operate under the prevailing conditions.

He stated that for the past one and a half years, the industry had repeatedly warned that manufacturing could not survive with such expensive electricity.

He said around 150 textile mills had already shut down, while the remaining units were close to closure. Kamran Arshad added that exports had been badly hit and that imports were being encouraged by strangling local industries.

He questioned how the country would bridge a trade gap of 38 billion dollars and asked whether the economy was expected to survive solely on overseas remittances.

He strongly opposed any further increase in electricity prices and said that a subsidy of Rs270 billion was being recovered from the industrial sector.

He noted that electricity prices had exceeded Rs34 per unit, while competing countries were offering power at much cheaper rates.

Kamran Arshad further said that losses of all distribution companies were being passed on to industries, adding that new roads and underpasses would be meaningless if unemployment continued to rise.

He termed it unjust to impose capacity charges despite having an installed capacity of 43,000 megawatts and demanded that electricity prices be immediately reduced to 9 cents per unit.

Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Farooq Yousaf questioned whether the government intended to turn Pakistan into an import-based market.

Farooq Kamran said industrial exhibitions should be stopped and that industries were not being allowed to function.

He pointed out that businesses were dealing with as many as 32 different government departments and that a serious trust gap had emerged between the government and the business community.