Textile sector can return all foreign debts: PYMA chairman

FAISALABAD – A Faisalabad-based textile exporter has claimed that the textile sector has the potential to pay off all foreign debts of the country within three years if the federal government ensures uninterrupted electricity and gas supplies to the Punjab.
Renowned cotton yarn exporter Syed Faheem Mahmood Shah, the Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (Punjab and KPK zone) chairman, in his exclusive interview to Pakistan Today, has expressed his deep concern over the federal government’s discriminatory policy of gas load shedding for Punjab alone. “The energy crisis has crippled the business activity in the province, so it must be overcome as soon as possible,” said Faheem Shah, the chief executive of M/s Faheem Hammad Brothers which has been dealing in cotton yarn trade since 25 years. He is also a senior member of Faialabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI).
To a question of cotton yarn export, he said only surplus cotton is exported to the countries like China while an ample amount of yarn is available in the local market for manufacturing sector of the country.
“It is due to the export of surplus cotton yarn that the growers are getting the international market price of their cotton produce which is a positive sign for the agriculture sector,” he said.
“High interest rates charged by banks have further spoiled the situation in the textile market which is already facing the energy crisis,” he continued. He opined that under the prevailing circumstances it is imperative for State Bank of Pakistan to announce a bailout package for the textile sector.
Faheem Shah is of the view that the policy of issuing licences for CNG stations, approved during the Pervez Musharraf regime, has a negative impact on the smooth supply of gas to the commercial and industrial sectors. “Industry must be given a priority over the CNG stations to boost exports,” he argued. Justifying his point, he said anybody who can afford to buy a car can obviously afford its petrol as well. “We must think about gas supplies to the industry instead of CNG stations that must be given a low priority,” he contended.
“Faisalabad is, undoubtedly, the second largest revenue-generating city of Pakistan. The textile city is truly called Manchester of Pakistan due to its flourishing textile manufacturing industry that has taken great strides in the last quarter of a century,” he said.