RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Aamir Fayyaz has been elected as the central chairman of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) for 2016-17. He will take charge of his office on September 30 annual general meeting of the association.

Zahid Mazhar and Ali Pervez have been elected unopposed as senior vice chairman and vice chairman APTMA respectively.

Fayyaz said the textile industry is facing a critical situation over the last three years, following an unprecedented fall in exports.

“The industry has been burdened with various taxes, levies and surcharges and system inefficiencies which cannot be passed over to buyers in the international marketplace.

Consequently, our exports have collapsed and cheap imports have made inroad in our domestic commerce,” he added. He said the textile industry had envisaged massive growth in exports by 2018 with an annual addition of $2 billion after the award of GSP plus from the European Union.

This target could not be materialised due to the increasing cost of doing-business which has rendered their exports uncompetitive.