LAHORE:
Enhancing exports is the only way for Pakistan to achieve sustainable growth as balance of payments sustainability depends on innovation and diversity in the structure of the economy, remarked a top official of a textile manufacturers association.
“We all need to penetrate export markets as it is the only way for sustainable growth of Pakistan,” said Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) Central Chairman Mubashar Naseer Butt.
PRGMEA held an interactive session in collaboration with the Model Customs Collectorate to facilitate exporters in enhancing value-added textile exports for economic uplift of the country.
Customs Collector Azmat Tahira along with her team including Farah Farooq, Deputy Collector Customs and Syeda Sidra, ADC Additional Deputy Collector Customs, explained to exporters various issues including rebate calculation, pending Duty and Tax Remission for Export (DTRE) cases, bonded warehouse soft clearance, vendor registration for the Export Finance Scheme and HS code approval.
Read US retains top spot in Pakistani exports
The central chairman of PRGMEA stressed that with a view to bringing the fundamental shift, there was a need to remove anti-export bias and adopt competitive principles with support of the government.
Speaking on the occasion, PRGMEA North Zone Chairman Ahmed Hanif said Pakistan needed to diversify its export markets as more than 50% of exports relied only on four markets – the US, European Union, China and Afghanistan.
He urged the government to help the industry make a difference while diversifying its markets.
“In order to increase exports, it is imperative that both public and private sectors join hands and hold such discussions regularly,” he said and underlined the need for developing such systems, with technological support, that could increase efficiency of exporters and bring down time and cost of doing business.
To achieve that, he called for studying the systems put in place by Pakistan’s regional competitors such as Bangladesh, China, India and Sri Lanka.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2023.
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