Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMEA) Senior Vice Chairman Usman Ashraf said that due to high prices of raw materials, expensive labor, and non-availability of government patronage, Pakistan’s hand-made carpet industry lost its footing in the global market.
He expressed these views while addressing the weekly review meeting. On this occasion, Senior Central Leader Abdul Latif Malik, Chairperson of Carpet Training Institute (CTI) Ijazur Rehman, Senior Members Riaz Ahmed, Pervez Hanif, Saeed Khan, Major (Rtd) Akhtar Nazir, Akbar Malik, Shahid Hasan, Umeer Usman, Daniyal Hanif, Faisal Saeed Khan, and others were also present.
Usman Ashraf said in 2005-06, the exports of this industry were at the level of $278 million, which has now come down to double digits, which is very alarming. He said the Indian government and related institutions provided full financial and technical support to the exhibition held in India this month, which resulted in 341 foreign buyers not only registering in the three-day exhibition but deals worth millions of dollars were also settled while on the contrary, in the recently held world exhibition in Pakistan, the association could not get any kind of patronage at the government level. He said that the freight charges of exports by air and sea are very high and at least a 50% subsidy should be given to them. “Special subsidy should be given to those participating in international exhibitions; free trade agreements should be concluded with various countries in which hand-woven carpets should also be included in the priority list,” adding he further demanded that all pending claims of exporters especially in respect of DLTL should be paid.
He said that problems like inadequate publicity, non-participation in international exhibitions, unnecessary delay in issuing refunds and credit financing are major obstacles in the recovery of the handmade carpets industry. “If the government takes care of solving these problems, the industry has the potential to re-emerge, which will not only create massive employment opportunities in the country but also earn foreign exchange,” he concluded.
PCMEA seeks govt patronage to capture the global carpet market
