ISLAMABAD: The Senate was informed on Friday that the government had increased import duties to cut imports.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Textile Abdul Razzaq Dawood told the house during question hour that import substitution policy had also been launched in order to increase domestic production and exports.

He said duties on raw material would be reduced to support and strengthen the manufacturing sector.

Razzaq Dawood said oil import substitution was a long term policy. He said refining capacity of the country had reduced over the years, because of which value added petroleum products were also being imported. He said once the refining capacity improved, the situation could be changed.

In a statement last month, the adviser on commerce and textile said the government had set a target of 15 million bales of cotton for 2018 -19 as compared to current 10.8 million bales production.

The government’s priority was to ensure the import of quality cotton and provide quality seeds and pesticides to the farmers for increasing their per acre yield, he said.

“We would focus on promoting ‘made in Pakistan’ goods and discourage imports,” he remarked.

“We are starting a campaign for ‘contamination-free cotton’ to improve the quality of local cotton and to evolve export quality cotton to increase revenue through exports,” he said.

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