The Pakistan Ministry of Commerce plans to fund textile sector in research and innovation projects initiated by the National Textile University, informed Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan on Wednesday, while chairing the third meeting of the Federal Textile Board attended by the representatives of associations from all the sectors of textile, value chain and concerned ministries in order to address the recent decline of exports in the textile sector.

The project would establish Textile Innovation Centre in the university, focus on the global demand for next-era fabric that includes technical and functional fabrics and would provide new initiatives in the field of design and value-addition.

The Ministry of Commerce is also scheduling a branding and marketing campaign to re-launch Pakistan in the export world with the country's new and improved credentials. The textile sector would be invited to provide their input in the campaign, which would use the traditional and new media to attract investors and importers to Pakistan.

The minister also directed the officials of Ministry of Commerce and textile to work in collaboration with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and State Bank of Pakistan in order to simplify the procedure for duty taxes remission on exports.

The board discussed proposals for the upcoming federal budget and provided its input on tax refunds, energy availability and its pricing, availability of raw materials and machinery. The board was informed by the sector that gas is abundantly available all across the country for all industries in the form of RLNG since March this year.

With regard to the decline in the production of cotton, the minister convened an inter-ministerial meeting to discuss the proposals for early finalisation of legislations awaiting approval regarding the introduction of high-yielding new seed varieties in Pakistan.

The minister said that Pakistan Seed Act is already implemented while Plant Breeders Act and Plant Health and Safety Act would be promulgated this year.