According to a press release issued here on Thursday every sector of value added textile needs duty free access in European Union but there are some sensitive items which the EU is not agreeable to yield.
While the government should make every efforts to get the ice broken in this sector, the strategy should pay more attention to those products to which the EU has a soft corner. One of such segment is that of towels and made ups. This sector has shown steady growth from Pakistan and has crossed a billion dollar mark.
But after the removal of quotas, a fair competition is being faced by this sector from the neighbouring countries most of which are enjoying the duty free access while our products are being subjected to 12 percent duty in EU.
"We are sure the commerce minister will keep this factor as well as loss in recent earthquake in mind while seeking concession for GSP Plus status".
The towels and made ups are value added items and can compensate the loss which is suffered on account of restriction on other items which are sensitive to EU.
Moreover, in spite of our repeated requests to Prime Minister and commerce minister, we have not received the R&D support, which if given to us can help us to increase our export manifold. Statistics show that for the last three months our growth has fallen on account of advantages of duty free access being enjoyed by the neighbouring countries.-PR