International Textile

Textile exporters and industrialists go on strike today

From?http://www.appareltextile-china.com/Tag?Industrialists and textile exporters?material?of export goods?the chain of production  Industrialists and textile exporters have announced an indefinite strike and closure of their units, rendering thousands of workers and staff jobless. The action was taken as the government failed to announce an expected Textile Relief Package here Thursday, after an inter-ministerial special committee meeting in Islamabad.  Sources from the Ministry of Commerce told members of the Action Committee of Industrialists and Exporters that the Prime Minister upon his return from Dubai may announce the relief package on July 15th. Industrialists are protesting against a 31 percent increase in gas tariffs as well as manifold increases in electricity and petroleum prices.  Announcing the unanimous decision of the industrialists, Khuwaja Asem Khurshid, Chairman of Joint Action Committee of Industrialists and Textile Exporters said the government had failed to fulfil its promise to the business community. He added "We are constrained to go on strike from July 11 to July 15, 2008 as a first phase." He added that if the government failed to announce a relief package by then that they would have no alternative but to strike indefinitely.  Khurshid, who is also the president of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), disclosed that ten leaders from various chambers of commerce and industry would reach Faisalabad tomorrow to join the protests of the Faisalabad business community. Muhammad Javed Aslam, Chairman, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA) North Zone said that that Pakistani textile products were already under great pressure in the international market. He added that our exporters were unable to obtain export orders, and Pakistan was not in a position to compete with India, China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.  He added that the government had already increased petroleum prices manifold earlier and now with the 31 percent increase in gas tariff, a chain reaction of price hikes on various items had started. Additionally, the material used in the manufacturing of export goods was becoming costlier.  0"As a result, we are finding it almost impossible to keep the prices of our knitwear export goods equivalent or less than our competitors in the international market," Aslam said. He announced that all hosiery units in Pakistan would be closed from July 11 to July 15 in first phase through out the country.  He added that the textile sector was backbone of the country's economy and was earned 60 percent of the nation's foreign exchange in addition to providing employment to 38 percent of the people. The PHMA chief said with continued high production costs, the industry would collapse totally and the national economy, which was already over-burdened with inflation, would be in a difficult position.  Most of the speakers at the meeting said that R&D was not a subsidy, but rather a compensation of the duties and taxes paid by the exporters and industries in the chain of production.