LAHORE: Carpet Industry of Pakistan can fetch impressive share in the international market provided
it has supportive and energetic policies by the government.
Hurdles in transportation of raw materials, unwashed/unfinished carpets, roughs and kilims
should be removed immediately to spur growth of carpet industry.
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior
Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President Haris Ateeq expressed these
views while talking to the delegation of Pakistan Carpets Manufacturers And Exporters
Association (PCMAEA) here at the LCCI on Wednesday. LCCI Executive Committee
Member Mian Attiq Rehman was leading the delegation while other members were Maj (R)
Akhtar Nazir, Latif Malik, Ijaz ur Rehman, Usman Rasheed and Asif Nazir. LCCI Executive
Committee Member Ali Afzal and Malik Riaz Iqbal were also present on the occasion.
The LCCI office-bearers said that carpet industry of Pakistan could acquire leading position
in the world market by monitoring global marketing trends, innovative product designing and
aggressive marketing and the role of the government’s supportive policies was most important
in this regard.
“The government should remove hurdles which are hampering the growth of carpet industry”,
the LCCI office-bearers added.
Head of the delegation Mian Attiqur Rehman said that high rates of custom duties and transportation
expenses were hitting the carpet industry hard and the government should pay attention towards
these issues.
Maj (R) Akhtar Nazir said that export orders of carpet industry had been dropped due to various
reasons. He mentioned that Pakistani exporters provide raw material to the Afghan weavers who
produce carpets and send back to Pakistan. He said that during transportation Pakistani exporters
face various hurdles which should be removed.
The delegation members informed the LCCI office-bearers that India and Afghanistan had subsidized
their carpet sector so Pakistani carpet should be facilitated to make them competitive in the international
market.
They urged the government to establish an effective banking system with Afghanistan to ensure smooth
trade. They said that due to COVID-19, freight and shipping charges had been increased by two to four
times. They added that Pakistani carpet exporters were paying USD 10 to 12 per meter on the export
of carpets to Europe while Afghan carpet exporters were paying just USD 0.5 per meter on the export
to same destination. They said that in this scenario, Pakistani carpet exporters could not survive.
They said the government should bring down duties, taxes and reduce freight and shipping charges.
They said the government should reduce duties and taxes on the import of raw materials, unwashed/unfinished carpets, roughs and kilims from Iran and Turkey.
They said that Pakistan had state-of-the-art facility of washing and finishing of carpets. They said
that if the government declares import of raw materials, unfinished carpets, roughs and kilims from
Iran and Turkey duty free, exports of this sector can be doubled within next few years.
The delegation members further stated that the government should establish Small Industrial Zones
on the pattern of Turkish model to facilitate the carpet industry which would help rapid growth of the
carpet industry of Pakistan.