Lahore: Industrialists under the umbrella of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) on Tuesday announced they would hold a protest in front of Parliament on the 7th of July. APTMA has been protesting against the treatment being meted out to the industry by the government and the non-implementation of the PM’s textile export package of Rs180b announced in January.
On Tuesday, APTMA had observed a black day across the country in retaliation to the anti-export and anti-industry measures of the incumbent government. Concurrently with the protest in front of Parliament house on the 7th of July, the textile industry will hold a meeting to discuss and highlight the major issues being faced which has led to a decrease in exports, job cuts and reduction in usage of production capacity.
Syed Ali Ahsan, APTMA Punjab Chairman said “The textile industry will finalise proposals for presentation to parliament; these demands will be submitted after a token march towards the legislature.
Earlier on Monday, APTMA Chairman Aamir Fayyaz had said that textile industry was going through a major financial crisis, with Rs 200b stuck up under duty drawbacks and sales tax with the government. He added that due to this cash crunch, exports couldn’t be increased since they had no resources to buy raw materials. He said due to high electricity tariffs and input costs; the textile industry wasn’t able to compete anymore in the international market.
