MULTAN, May 31st: Chairman of All Pakistan Bedsheet & Upholstry Manufacturers Association (APBUMA) Syed Muhammad Aasim Shah has hailed the decision of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet to extend the export package worth of Rs195 billion for next three years to increase the exports.In a Press statement Aasim shah said that this step would surely help increasing the exports and the package aims at improving the competitiveness of the textile and non-textile export sector to continue the export growth in the coming financial years. He said that In order to improve competitiveness and incentivise investment in export-oriented production, the Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL) has been extended, on the same terms and conditions, for the commercial and manufacturer exporters which is a commendable decision. Aasim Shah said the extension of the PM's Export Package for the value-added and non-traditional products and non-traditional markets for a period of 3 years will provide predictability to local and foreign investors to invest in export-oriented production capacities.He further said that these components of the exports package are estimated to provide competitiveness benefits of around Rs65 billion annually (including Rs41 billion in Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies) to the export sector. The ECC considered issues in the applicability of SRO. 1067(I)/2017 due to limited human resource and capacity constraints of Department of Plant Protection (DPP).He said package was initially approved in January 2017 for a period of 18 months i.e. till June 2018. The package has vitally contributed towards the turnaround in exports in FY 2018 which had been continuously declining since FY2014. APBUMA Chairman further said that package approved by the ECC is in addition to the three other relief measures announced by the government for the export sector: in the recent budget the government has included packaging material in the zero-rating regime for sales tax in respect of the five export-oriented sectors i.e. textile, leather, sports goods, surgical goods and carpets; the Federal Government has extended the duration of Rs 3 per unit subsidy under Industrial Support Package (ISP) for another three months; and the import duty on 255 out of 484 items of raw material and machinery proposed by the Ministry of Commerce has been reduced during the Budget 2018-19.
