US bill tailors duty-free textile access to LDCS

Saturday, May 30, 2009
APP (Pakistan)

Karachi—Two US Senators Dianne Feinstein, and Kit Bond have introduced a bill that would grant duty-free access (upto a limit) for textile and apparel goods, to 14 least-developed countries (LDCS) that are not currently beneficiaries under any U.S. preference program.

According to information reaching Pakistan, they are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Laos, Maldives, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, East Timor, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Yemen. The same benefits would be made available to Sri Lanka as well.


A large number of textile exporters and industrialists, while expressing concern over this development, have said that this move will further shrink Pakistan’s share in US textile market.

Chairman F B Area Association of Trade and Industry M Idress Gigi said that this is alarming. Pakistan is an important ally of USA in war on terror and we have been trying to get duty free access in American market. But we did not get the access and our competitors Bangladesh and Sri Lanka got it, he said.

Former chairman Towel Manufacturers Association of Pakistan S M Obaid said that the government must take up this matter with US government and get a market access for Pakistani exporters. Pakistan has sustained huge losses on account of terrorism. We are the strong ally of USA and we have a valid case for this access, he noted.

If this bill is passed it will be a disaster for our textile exports, he added.

Chairman North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry Muhammad Younus Khamisani said that the cost of Pakistani textile is already high due to high mark up and utilities rates. Duty free access to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will shunt out Pakistani textile products from USA, he observed.

The goal of the legislation is to help promote democracy while sustaining vital export industries and creating employment opportunities in LDCs.

Rice bank helps poor families

Rice bank helps poor families

May 29 2009
UCAN

KANDAL, Cambodia : Caritas Cambodia is seeing positive results four years after establishing its rice bank program to help poor rural families.

In Lavear Em and Kandal Steung districts in Kandal province, for instance, the program has significantly benefited impoverished households, says Chhay Meng, Caritas Cambodia's program manager in this province.

The program here is just one of the many rice bank schemes that Caritas is involved in across the country. Caritas is the Catholic Church's social service agency.

"Confronted by immense poverty and suffering, our most fundamental response has been supporting marginalized communities by sharing resources, supplying seeds for farmers, increasing their output and supplies, and helping to reduce their dependence on high interest loans," he said.

Meng said that Caritas has managed to help six communes and 13 villages in the province, directly benefiting up to 250 of the poorest families.

The good thing about the program, he said, is that although Caritas is the principle sponsor, it is the local people who are mainly responsible for the day-to-day running of the rice bank.

Farmers contribute 20 kilograms of rice to the bank on joining the scheme.

Participants wishing to borrow rice to feed their families will have to pay 20 percent interest on what they borrow. However, the interest rate goes up to 50 percent on rice seed for planting, which they pay back at harvest time. If they default on a repayment, then it can affect their ability to borrow in the future.

The scheme also allows farmers to save rice, said Meng.

Rice bank officials are elected by rice bank members in the villages and staff from Caritas Cambodia. There are three main officials per district: director, deputy-director, and cashier.

According to Yem Nuon, 54, cashier in Kandal's Stueng district, Caritas Cambodia in 2005 provided 250 kilograms of rice to poor families in her district. Since then the rice bank has grown significantly so that there is now a reserve of about three tons.

"I'm very thankful to Caritas Cambodia for assisting the poor families in our village," she said "If our crops fail, we can borrow seed from the bank. If we borrow from other sources, we have to pay double the interest (almost 100 percent)," she said.

Hem Pring, 60, director of the rice bank in the same village, said her village has 26 families already registered as members of the program and 56 other people are about to join. "The members are living better lives now," she added.