“The European Union (EU) does not seem to be interested in extending the promised trade concessions to Pakistan”, said Mr Ejaz Khokhar, Chairman - Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA).
It may be recalled that, EU granted trade concessions to Pakistan on 75 items which are mostly associated with the textile industry. Following the legal procedures which include seeking of consent from the European Union governments as well as the Parliament, tariff concessions will come into effect.
These 75 items together constitute about 27 percent of the overall exports of Pakistan to European Union. The overall export earnings of Pakistan from various textile items reached one billion dollars in 2009. Average export earnings over the last three years touched $1.2 billion and the country's export share constitutes three percent of overall imports of European Union.
Speaking to fibre2fashion, Mr Khokhar said, “EU first said that, they are giving us the concessions. However months after the announcement, nothing has materialized till date. India along with a few other countries was not in the favour of Pakistan, as they felt that this concession will not benefit Pakistan”.
“At the moment, the most important thing is to give employment to the unemployed people here. Because of the floods, a lot many people are jobless. So we are getting this concession, just to enhance the business for the support of these people. From this concession, we would contribute some percentage for that area as monetary support”, he informed.
“So I suggest the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to reconsider and also request the European Commission to overcome objections from all quarters and announce the package atleast for a initial period of two years”, he concluded by saying.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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