1.  Webinar” in collaboration with China Council for International Investment Promotion (CCIIP) and China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC). Both the countries have launched a critical partnership for the promotion of business alliances and sectoral match-making between the private enterprises of their textile sectors.

2.  Minister Shaukat Tarin asked the textile houses to consolidate their business and promote value-added exports on a competitive basis internationally. During his meeting with foreign investors and textile industrialists he expressed a commitment to targeted incentives to drive export-led inclusive growth.

3.  Mr. Gohar Ejaz from APTMA requested the government for continuation of Regionally Competitive Tariffs of $ 6.5 / Metric Million British Thermal Unit (MMBtu) of Gas/RLNG and 7.5 cents / kWh of Electricity. On this request the government reposed its confidence in the Textile Industry, providing the government’s complete support.

4.  Exports of the textile sector as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) were seen climbing by over 30 percent year-on-year in March-21, while there has also been a recovery on a month-on-month basis where textile exports increased by 9.8 percent.

5.  PRGMEA Chairman Sohail A Sheikh, asked the Federal Minister Ali Zaidi to control the shipping companies as they have increased their freight charges by 700 percent after the reopening of global trade amidst Covid-19. Asking the international shipping lines to rationalize the cost of containerized cargo, as it has offset the positive impact of incentives provided by the government.

6.  Expressing his views while talking to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, DG Agriculture has informed that due to dry weather this year, a better cotton crop would be expected and the agriculture department will also ensure seed monitoring.

7.  According to a report of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association for the cotton season 2020-21 released recently, seed cotton (Phutti) equivalent to over 5.645 million or exactly 5,645,967 bales has reached ginning factories across the country.

8.  Pakistan spent $1.838 billion on cotton imports during nine months of the current fiscal year (9MFY21) which is a 46% increase from $1.258bn recorded last year. Pakistan’s cotton import bill in FY19 was $1.65bn and the 9MFY21 lint imports have crossed the FY20 total cotton import bill of $1.704bn of last year.