Minister announces incentives for leather exporters
28/07/2009
The government in Pakistan has announced a set of incentives to boost leather sector exports, including footwear. The new ideas are part of the country’s trade policy for the years spanning 2009-12.
Federal commerce minister, Amin Fahim, announced the measures on July 27 and set an export growth target of 6% for fiscal year 2009-10, and 10% and 13% for each of the successive years.
The leather sector will be able to avail itself of a series of facilities from an Export Investment Support Fund that the government is setting up. These include expert advisory services to leather apparel manufacturers and exporters, grants to help firms establish design studios or design centres in factories, new research and development centres in Karachi and Sialkot to be run by the Pakistan Leather Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The minister said: “Finished leather is one of the major export products and an intermediate product in which substantial value addition can be achieved by adopting modern production processes and creating trendy finishes. There is a need to encourage tanneries to upgrade production and design facilities and to facilitate them for complying with international standards.”
In addition, the government will offer tanneries 25% of the cost of setting up their own laboratory facilities and will match funding tanneries can secure for setting up effluent treatment plants in individual tanneries.
There is also the possibility that the Export Investment Support Fund may also provide money to help slaughterhouses install flaying machines, to reduce the amount of waste. Estimates in Pakistan suggest that a minimum of 25% hides and skins are rendered unuseable from butcher cuts.
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