PCMAEA terms State Bank’s ban on third party shipment disaster for exports

Business Reporter
LAHORE: The Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMAEA) expressing serious concern over the State Bank’s ban on third-party shipments and difficulties in the import of semi-finished raw materials through the Torkham border said that the contracts that have been signed with foreign buyers are affecting badly.
Furthermore, the recently held world expo in Pakistan has had a very positive impact on the handloom carpet industry, but unfortunately, due to problems and obstacles, these good impacts are fading away.
These views were expressed by Usman Ashraf, Senior Vice Chairman of the Association while addressing the emergency meeting. Chairman of Carpet Training Institute Pervez Hanif, senior central leader of the Association Abdul Latif Malik, senior member Riaz Ahmed, Major (Rtd) Akhtar Nazir, Saeed Khan, Shahid Hasan, Ijazur Rehman, Malik Akbar and others were also present in the meeting. In the meeting, a detailed discussion was held regarding the problems faced by the handmade carpets industry. It was decided in the meeting that efforts will be made to contact the relevant authorities immediately regarding the issues.
Usman Ashraf said that in the current situation, when Pakistan needs valuable foreign exchange, instead of solving the problems of the export sectors, these are being increased. “The exporters involved in the hand woven carpets industry are of good repute and have been doing business with foreign buyers from various countries for many years. It is surprising that this restriction has been imposed by the State Bank, the country from which the money will be received; the shipment of the products will also be for the same country. As many of our foreign buyers sell our products in other countries, the ban on third-party shipments has been frowned upon by foreign buyers, which is feared to affect exports,” he added.
He further said that the Torkham border issues are still the same and due to unusual delay in the import of semi-finished goods from Afghanistan, it is not possible to fulfill the foreign orders in time, which affects the contract and the reputation of Pakistan.