The Pakistan government has been urged by the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) to abolish 0.25 percent Export Development Surcharge which is deducted from export proceeds.

Pakistan Apparel Forum Chairman Jawed Bilwani speaking during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Textile Industry, chaired by Member National Assembly (MNA) Haji Muhammad Akram Ansari at the PHMA House, said that they believe the surcharge on exports must be abolished as this will help exporters to use cash liquidity for enhancing the exports.

Bilwani said that the government has already accumulated Rs26 billion in its kitty under the Export Development Fund (EDF) whereas it disburses approximately Rs1.5 billion annually for export development.

The exporters urged the government to allow stitching units to import raw material under the Duty and Tax Remission for Export (DTRE) scheme. At present, they cannot import raw material under the DTRE system.

They also demanded that the refund of sales tax on packaging material should be paid on a fixed percentage basis and be released along with export proceeds through the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) as the entire exercise was now being done electronically.

All Customs rebate claims are settled and paid through the SBP at the time of realisation and payment of export proceeds.

Drawing a comparison with regional rivals, Pakistan textile exports in 2016, exports of Pakistan stand at $12.45 billion with 239% growth, Bangladesh’s exports totalled $27.49 billion with 2,705% surge and India’s exports were $37.65 billion with 699% growth.

Similarly cotton production in Pakistan in 2016 totalled 9.7 million bales with 24% decrease whereas India produced 33.8 million bales, up 248%.