According to the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman Aamir Fayyaz unemployment of textile workers is on the rise in Punjab region of Pakistan because of the delay in the announcement of textile package by the government. He said that over two dozen mills have been totally closed down in the province while a large number of mills have reduced to their operations to two shifts, which has left thousands of textile workers jobless.
He said that the exports data of last four months has indicated a continuous decline in textile exports, however the government has been delaying the announcement of textile package since August. Despite Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s assurance, there is no news of any textile package by the government yet, he added.
He further said that though the country’s textile industry is considered to be growth engine and employment generator in the region, the government is showing no positivity towards the textile industry. It is not even announcing a long term policy to revive the textile industry against threat from countries like India, Bangladesh and China, where extensive support is being extended to the textile industry for job creation.
In 2020, he said, the projected growth of Bangladesh, India and China would be 6 per cent, 7 per cent and 56 per cent in the world market against 1.4 per cent of Pakistan, which stands at 1.6 per cent at present.
Earlier, APTMA observed a "Black Day of Unviability of Textile Industry of Pakistan" from Karachi to Peshawar on October 14, 2015. Addressing a press conference, Tariq Saud, Central Chairman APTMA had said that Pakistan's textile industry was facing worst-ever crisis of its history and thus unable to compete in the world market.
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