National Tariff Commission (NTC) chairperson Ms Rubina Athar accompanied by Director Arshad, Deputy Director Sarfaraz and Assistant Director Mazhar paid an official visit to Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers Association office.
PFMA Chairman Zahid Hussain welcomed the delegation along with Footwear Industry key investor and briefed the NTC chairperson on the growth trajectory of the footwear industry during last 3 years.
The Footwear Industry last three years growth can be evident from the facts that the sector has witness 92% import reduction in the finish goods and the share has been taken up by local footwear manufacturers.
At the same time, footwear industry has experience 22 percent growth in footwear export in last three years.
Footwear sector has conducted several meetings with the NTC and Ministry of Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood to explore full potential of Footwear sector as import substitute, which can bring substantial increase in export and create employment opportunities.
The main focus of the meetings was to strive for making footwear sector as import substitute because three years back, Footwear sector was importing 2.8 million pair of shoes products but now they are importing only 1.6million pairs of shoes and to enhance the footwear export in line with the policy “Made in Pakistan”.
On the occasion PFMA Chairman Zahid Hussain appreciated the government for reaching out to the industry “We have detailed discussion with the delegates on each raw material and shown them Industry processes and shared footwear sector contemporary issues.
I believe this visit prove to be very productive for the industry as government made serious efforts to resolve industry issues.
These visits will pave way for next year fiscal budget 2021-22 preparation in which PFMA and NTC will work together to introduce and implement industry friendly policies and regulation to help increase the productivity and make products competitive”.
