LAHORE, Feb 20: Federal Minister for Textile Industry Farooq Saeed Khan has said that the government wants to rehabilitate the textile industry and increase its exports on urgent basis.

The minister was talking to media at a seminar on “Textile industry” at the regional office of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) here on Friday.

The minister said that a series of seminars and meetings were being held with industrialists and experts in major cities for preparing recommendations to take the industry out of the crisis.

A seminar will be held in Islamabad next month, which will be presided by President Zardari for finalising the recommendations, he said. The country’s economy is largely dependent on the textile sector and the crisis is having negative impact on the economy.

The government is in close contact with industrialists from the textile sector to overcome the crisis and to earn maximum foreign exchange for the country, he added.

Speakers at the seminar suggested reduction in mark up rate on bank loans and other incentives, including cut in electricity prices for boosting textile exports. —APP