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Govt targets 1.1 million bales cotton procurement

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: The government was making full efforts to buy more than 1.1 million bales of cotton from growers in the country. This was disclosed by the Federal Minister for Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood, in a Press conference here on Sunday.

He acknowledged that the government lacked resources to handle the bumper cotton crop in the country. The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), ginners and exporters all must make a collective effort to solve this problem, he urged.

The federal minister said he hoped that the cotton crop in the country would fetch better prices in February-March this year. A bad cotton crop in India and China was likely to bring better returns for Pakistan's cotton crop, he maintained.

Answering the question whether the government had the capacity to make arrangements for storage of surplus cotton crop, he said the RECP and TCP had the requisite storage capacity.

The federal minister reiterated that the General Sales Tax (GST) would be levied in the country at all costs. "We have a revenue crisis that needs to be corrected," he said.

Dawood, giving his view on administrative changes, said that the government rather going for downsizing, was instead making efforts for rightsizing the institution of bureaucracy in the country. The government was also trying its best to boost investors' confidence, he added.

Talking about World Trade Organization (WTO) treaty implementation in year 2004-5, he said that the government was already in process to take such measures as would ensure competitiveness in the period.

The federal minister, answering a question on the sugar mills crisis, said that the issue was primarily of provincial nature and he had already talked to the governors of the provinces on the subject. "We had a meeting with Pakistan Sugar Mills Association on Monday in Islamabad and it is earnestly hoped that they will not go on strike," he added.

Giving his views on the rice crop, he said the country that had best quality Basmati rice in the world had improved upon its standing internationally.

Talking about trade with India, he said that unless there was an improvement in the political scenario, there would be no trade with that country.