LAHORE - Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMEA) has urged the government to release funds so that arrangements could be made for the upcoming International Carpet Exhibition.
Addressing a press conference after the weekly meeting of the Association here Sunday, Senior Vice Chairman PCMEA Riaz Ahmed said a positive response and cooperation from national institutions is very important to make the exhibition a success. Latif Malik, Saeed Khan, Major (r) Akhtar Nazir, Khawaja Shakar were also present during the meeting. He informed the participants of the meeting about the preparations of the 35th International Carpet Exhibition, scheduled to be held in Lahore from 5-7 October this year. He said that major countries of the world including South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member states are also scheduled to participate in the exhibition.
He also expressed resentment over the cold shoulder of the government towards decrease of exports in the country. Riaz Ahmed has said that India was busy to reduce the Pakistani exports in international market and a huge sum of amount is being spent by Indian government to decrease the Pakistani exports.
He said although a large number of incentives have been announced by the government to boost the country’s exports, but the exports could not be increased due to cold attitude towards the export industry. He also said that textile sector, which is the backbone of the economy, is slowly collapsing, therefore, the government should take note of the plight of this sector also.
He said failed trade diplomacy is one of the reasons behind dwindling exports which has forced the government to borrow from international lenders repeatedly to save the country from default.
“Weak trade diplomacy and semi-educated export managers proved to be a double whammy for the export sector which was already reeling under various problems,” he said.
Textile sector is going down for which incompetent export managers, who were appointed on political considerations, are responsible for the current dismal situation, he added.
On the occasion, he said that due to government support in Bangladesh, the country has reached the export target of 34 billion dollars, due to which the exports of the country are increasing on day by day. He said the Bangladesh government is trying to further expand the export.
He said that exports of the other countries are going well but local authorities get comfort in blaming the global recession. Pakistani exports are decreasing day by day, he said.
Riaz Ahmed reiterated his demand to direct the Commercial Attaches in Pakistani Embassies including Consulates abroad for marketing and advertisement of Pakistani products for enhancing exports of Pakistani products in international market.
He said that Secretary Trade Development Authority has already been approached and informed about the difficulties being faced in arranging the International Carpet Exhibition in October.
Secretary Trade Development Authority has promised to remove all the hurdles in arranging the International Carpet Exhibition and official patronage during the exhibition.