Carpet industry to be patronized to boost exports: Hanif

LAHORE: Carpet Training Institute (CTI) chairperson Pervez Hanif said that the government should also support the handloom carpet industry on the pattern of IT industry which bagged incentive package worth of Rs6 billion to boost the volume of the exports of the country.

He expressed those views while talking to a visiting delegation at his office here on Sunday. The delegation also included senior central leader Abdul Latif Malik, vice chairman Ejaz-ur-Rehman, senior executive members Riaz Ahmed, Saeed Khan, Daniel Hanif and others. The long standing issues facing the carpet industry were also discussed on the occasion.

Hanif said the conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund for the loan program are not acceptable. He further said despite the announcements, the barriers to exports had not been removed, but complications were growing. Hanif said that the move of the government to provide support to the IT export industry was welcome.

“At present, Pakistan’s handloom carpet industry is in the worst stage and if the government provides assistance in this way, along with removing barriers to exports, the industry’s exports could rise again, as they have in the past,” he added. Hanif said that taxes on partially manufactured raw materials, especially those coming through Torkham, should be waived so that the employment of millions of artisans associated with this industry would be protected.