Daily Times

The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters held an interactive session in collaboration with the Model Customs Collectorate to facilitate the exporters to enhance value-added textile exports, contributing in the economic uplift of the country.

The interactive session was participated by a number of PRGMEA members. Customs Collector Ms. Azmat Tahira along with her team including Ms. Farah Farooq, Deputy Collector Customs Ms. Syeda Sidra, ADC Additional Deputy Collector Customs, briefed the exporters about various issues including Rebate Calculations, Pending DTRE Cases, Bonded Warehouse Soft Clearance, Vender Registration for EFS, HS Code Approval, Maintenance of Customs Record in Duplicate both in manual and electronic and Access of different Analysis Certificate etc.

PRGMEA Central Chairman Mubashar Naseer Butt, addressing the meeting, said that enhancing exports is the only way for Pakistan to achieve sustainable growth, as Pakistan’s balance of payment sustainability depends on innovation and diversity in the structure of the economy. We all need to penetrate in exports, as it is the only way for sustainable growth of Pakistan, he said. Mubashar Butt said that with a view to bring this fundamental shift, there is a need to remove anti-export bias, with the industry to anchor itself on competitive principles in support of the government, he added. PRGMA North chairman Ahmed Hanif, addressing the meeting said the country needs to diversify its export market as more than 50 percent of our exports rely only on four markets i.e. USA, EU, China and Afghanistan, he said and added that the government should help the industry make a difference in diversifying the market.

Ahmed Hanif thanked the Customs officials for taking their precious time and introducing the new systems and answering member’s queries. He also said that in order to increase our exports it is imperative that both public and private sectors should join hands and hold such discussions regularly for the benefit of exporters. He emphasized on the development of such systems, with the use of technology, to increase the efficiency of the exporters and bring down the cost and time of doing business. For this he stressed on the need for studying the system already developed by our regional competitors such as, Bangladesh, China, India and Sri Lank.

On this occasion, the Customs Collector Azmat Tahira, assured the PRGMEA members of removing the glitches in all kinds of Customs facilitation schemes to make them business friendly with a view to improve the inflows of foreign exchange in the country.

Addressing the leading exporters of garment sector, she said the FBR believed in maximum facilitation to exporters enabling them to enhance exports to ultimately benefit the country to earn foreign exchange. She apprised that the Customs had been continuously working to improve and develop the taxation system through reforms and automation. He apprised that the FBR had been continuously working to improve and develop the taxation system through reforms and automation. In this connection, automation had been enhanced and public dealing had become limited particularly for the exporters.

Azmat Tahira appreciated that PRGMEA, saying the Customs believed in facilitating the exporters to contribute in the economic prosperity of the country, as the government and the PRGMEA were working closer like hands in gloves to facilitate the taxpayers and exporters.

She gave a detailed presentation on the Customs facilitation schemes, highlighting the accomplishments made by the department so far. She also pointed out that the department had set up help desks to facilitate exporters.