Gohar Ejaz announces ‘Road to $50 billion Exports’ APTMA

Gohar Ejaz announces ‘Road to $50 billion Exports’ APTMA sweeping APTMA Annual Elections 2022-23
After sweeping All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Annual Elections of 2022-23 for the 14th consecutive year, Dr. Gohar Ejaz Group announced they were launching an ambitious programme namely ‘Road to $50 billion Exports’ to help mend the country’s threadbare economy.

“The group aims to achieve the aforementioned goal] by moving to stitch sector and conversion of $3 billion yarn and fabrics of the country into value-added garments for exports fetching additional export of $10 billion,” said Dr. Gohar Ejaz, Patron in Chief APTMA, addressing a press conference at APTMA House, Lahore, convened to declare the election results.

Announcing the results, Raza Baqir, Secretary General, told that Rehman Naseem, Zahid Rasheed Khawja, Syed Ali Ahsan, SM Tanveer, Hamid Zaman, Shaiq Jawed, Muhammad Anees Khawaja, Asad Shafi, Amanullah Kassim, Imran Maqbool, Muhammad Junaid, Naveed Ahmed, Zahid Mazhar, and Zohair Dilawar Agha had been elected unopposed as members of the Central Executive Committee of APTMA.

In the zonal elections of the apex textile body Hamid Zaman has been elected as Chairman, Kamran Arshad as Senior Vice Chairman, Kh Muhammad Anees as Vice Chairman, Asad Shafi as Treasurer, and Haroon Shahzada Ellahi Shaikh, Omar Latif Chaudhry, Umair Abid, SM Nabeel, Muhammad Ali Chaudhry, Ahsan Shahid Waraich, Shahroze Ahmad, Haroon Shahid, and Sufyan Akhtar as members of Zonal Managing Committee, the APTMA official announced.

Dr. Gohar Ejaz further said textile exports of the country were stagnant at $12-13 billion till 2018-19 owing to multiple issues especially energy tariffs and non-availability of energy for the textile industry. “Consequent to hectic efforts made by his Group, the Regionally Competitive Energy Tariff was approved by the Government for export-oriented sectors both for electricity and gas,” Ejaz said.

“Energy tariff costs, not more than 2.67 percent to the country, contributed to expanding textile exports to $19.33 billion during 2021-22, registering a growth of 26 percent over the preceding year and over 54 percent in the short span of three years.”

He added that a new investment of $5 billion, made in the textile sector, had the potential to fuel exponential growth in textile exports, provided the government continued to extend the business-friendly environment to textile and other export-oriented sectors.

Gohar also announced establishing a Garment Training Center under the auspices of APTMA to train manpower for employment in the vast as well as expanding garments sector. “Extending of soft term loans of Rs250-300 million to trained men and women would inflate exports to more than $50 billion in less than five years leaving no requirement for borrowing loans from foreign donors.”

He also shared the group’s plans to set up the ‘Pakistan Economic Forum’ comprising professional experts from all fields of the economy to analyze the economic woes of the country and to prepare a blueprint for economic revival and development of an economic vision for the next ten years.

Ejaz reiterated that sustainable export-led economic growth is imperative for the development of the country in order to create additional jobs in the country and to earn more foreign exchange for the economic stability of the country.