In consideration of the volume of investment and sharp rise in the number of yarn and fabric manufacturing and dying-printing-finishing mills along with denim and home textile manufacturers, the textile sub-sector is one of the strong industrial divisions of the country. This healthy growth of the textile sector has enabled it to meet more than 80 per cent fabric requirement of the knitwear and 40 per cent demand of the woven garment manufacturers. These backward linkage industries are playing an important role in the sustenance of the export-oriented RMG industries. Up to this, all were very fine but herein after begins the ordeal of the local yarn and weaving mills. Due to abundant availability of low-priced yarn and fabric imported under bonded warehouse and UD facilities for RMG manufacturers or brought into the country under false declaration, the local industries are facing an uneven competition and are forced to bring down their production targets. The local mills are reportedly reeling under a huge stockpile of unsold yarn and fabric. Those industries are now at the risk of closure. Our policymakers encourage investment in the private sector and offer various incentives though financial and policy support. These measures have started bearing fruits as is reflected in the latest growth of the spinning and weaving sector. But that is just half of the task, and probably the less important one at that. What is more important at this critical juncture is the focused attention of the policy planners to protecting the industries from any sort of undue competition. Obviously the authorities concerned have failed to ensure protection of the local industries; they have failed to stop the leakage from bonded warehouses, illegal import of yarn and fabric and selling of them in the domestic market much to the jeopardy of the local industries. The same is the story with paper mills as well. This is an ominous indication for the country’s industrial growth. Unless authorities take appropriate measures in right earnest to protect our own industries, all the high-sounding rhetoric and promises for the country’s industrial growth will vanish into the thin air. The tasks are well-defined and no ambiguity about them; authorities need to plunge into action on an urgent basis.
