01-06-2008, 09:20 PM
[center] <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo--><b><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>Textile mills decide to lay off labour</span></b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->[/center]
<b>LAHORE - Around 100 members of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Punjab) has decided to close their mills and lay off the labour.</b>
In an emergent meeting held here at APTMA Punjab office where the members decided to organize a delegation to the Chief Ministerâs office to present a note to the Chief Minister. The note will ask the Chief Minister to order connection of gas and electricity to the industry. The note will also request the Chief Minister to arrange an urgent appointment with the Prime Minister for Tuesday. Members also decided to take a delegation will then go to the WAPDA House and present a note to the Managing Director of PEPCO.
The members underlined that due to heavy losses caused by the closures, many mills are now not in position to pay even the utility bills. They remarked that most of the mills have to now ask their banks to declare a moratorium on repayments for two years. APTMA (P) has appealed to the PM to meet the representatives of the industry urgently and redress their grievances.
APTMA (Punjab) has regretted the situation that the industry in Punjab has been placed in due to shortage of gas and electricity in the province. Almost 300 mills in the province have become idle for most of the days during last week with nearly 70pc loss of production. Thus while govtâs anti industry policies have pushed the trade deficit to $16b level, industry has collapsed under the burden of first cost of energy and now lack of energy and also cost of bank loans. Under the circumstances, the textile industry is in no more position to service its liabilities. While in the meeting with M. D. PEPCO, it was decided to restrict the electric load shedding to 5 hours a day and to ensure smooth supply during rest of the day, LESCO has failed to supply according to the agreement. Similarly according to the EC decision of last year, SNGPL was supposed to provide gas to industry at par with general industry including process industry, the gas utility is giving step fatherly treatment to the textile industry, including spinning, weaving, garments, by disconnecting their gas supply.
Meanwhile, Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) expressed its concern over the move to reduce export finance. Tanvir Ahmad Sheikh President FPCCI in a press statement here Saturday said that the move may discourage the exporters and affect the exports growth. He urged the Governor SBP to realize the importance of finance in stimulation of exports. âThis decision will have an impact on the textile sector as textile sector is its major recipientâ, he added. The availability of export at subsidized rates enables exporters to efficiently execute their export orders at lower costs, he said. President FPCCI also pointed out that if we analyze the effects of this decision, we can see that it will increase the cost of borrowing to the export oriented industries, particularly the textile sector which remains the primary recipient for export credit.
He said textile sector faces this discrimination and may be taken into account.
He said that SBP previous reports has been showing a positive and significant co-relation between export refinances and textile exports.
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->