Pakistan’s newly appointed Minister for Commerce and Textile Muhammad Pervaiz Malik is mulish on boosting the country’s declining textile exports on priority by resolving traders’ issues. After assuming charge on August 8, Malik said that the government will take all appropriate measures to expedite the finalization of Preferential and Free Trade Agreements with various countries.

Also informed that the process of paying tax refunds to the exporters will be expedited, one of the main issues of the business community.

The minister, an industrialist from the crisis-hit basic textile sector, was briefed on the three-year Strategic Trade Policy Framework, under which the government had set unrealistic exports target of $35 billion by June 2018, informed sources.

The textile ministry was without a minister for a long time, which was of the major reasons for decline in value added textile exports. Lack of technical upgrades in the sector in the last decade makes the ministry’s job tough to manage substantial subsidies.

The country’s textile exports, which account for about 55 percent of total exports, fell from $13.50 billion in 2013 to $12.1 billion in fiscal 2016-17. The export of value-added apparel, however, has not been affected by the decline.

The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) claims that 40 percent of its capacities are closed due to high cost of doing business.

The Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA) Chairman Adil Butt has felicitated the newly-appointed Minister for Commerce And Textile Pervaiz Malik, stating that the value-added textile industry is ready to work closely with the government with a view to enhance the exports and revive growth momentum.

The PHMA chairman hoped that the new minister would take measures to further revitalise the economy of Pakistan.