During question hour session of the National Assembly adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Textile Abdul Razak Dawood told the house that China has extended duty-free access to Pakistan on 313 items under the new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which is scheduled to be signed during the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Beijing. After much deliberation China has also agreed to provide Pakistan market access on the pattern of Association of South East Asian Nations ASEAN). After China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement, the country’s export earnings could increase by $500 million within a time span of 18 months.
Dawood further informed the house that Textile Division is coordinating with over 100 textile-related institutes, associations and chambers of commerce and industry for taking their input for the policy. The policy will take into account all the different aspects of textile industry and come up with cogent proposals for the problems being faced by the industry.
The advisor said Garment Cities at Faisalabad and Lahore are being extended by launching their Phase-II to construct additional buildings for SMEs to start value-added products. The financial matters relating to three hundred acres of Karachi Garment City and 1250 acres of Pakistan Textile City Limited at Karachi are also being resolved on priority basis.
