MULTAN,Feb 23rd: The business community has
welcomed the renewal of GSP plus scheme for two years by Europen Union and said
that GSP Plus plays a catalyst in boosting Pakistani exports. In last 3 years
Pakistan exploited GSP+ status by accessing markets across European Union.
Pakistan exports to EU increased from 24 percent in 2013 to 34 percent in 2016.
President of Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) Malik Asrar Ahmed
Awan said that the renewal of GSP+ status for another two years is a golden
opportunity which our exporters could exploit and make most out of it in order
to meet export target of US $ 35 billion. The government should consider
exporters time-barred claims similar to those of non-textile, since textile
sector has been the main driver of the economy for the last 50 years in terms
of foreign currency earnings and jobs creation. There is no alternative
industry or service sector other than textile that has the potential to benefit
the economy with foreign currency earnings and new job creation. Under GSP+
Pakistani goods have duty-free access on 91 percent of EU tariff lines. Upward
trend was witnessed in exports to EU and exports of euro6.29 billion achieved
in 2016 as compared to euro4.54 billion in 2013. Textile sector alone fetched euro4.87
billion out of euro6.29 billion exports in total for 2016 and euro3.14 billion
out of 4.54 billion fetched in 2013 which represents a considerable increase of
54.8 percent leading to balance of trade in favour of Pakistan. We have
succeeded in reaching this landmark simply due to the serious efforts of
ministry of Commerce and Textile. He said that it is a good news that our
exports increased by 11.19 percent for
the period July – Dec 2017 as compared to July – Dec 2016. It seems that train
of trade is on the right path and necessary steps need to be taken in order to
continue this trend. Government should fulfill its announced commitments and
ensure timely release of all stuck up refund payments against sales tax, duty
drawback on local taxes and levies (DLTL) and DDT.
