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Govt''s Move Saves Textile Industries Job |
2003-11-5
The government’s move of imposing a ban on lint exports without permits has helped in saving a large number of textile jobs. The textile industry was on the verge of shedding off scores of jobs because of a shortage of lint.
Players in the industry were this week upbeat that they were now in a position to retain an estimated 10 000 jobs, while efforts are under way to plug other loopholes that continue to weigh down the sector.
Cotton producers, the lifeblood for the textile manufacturers, had almost pulled the plug on the industry by starving it of sufficient lint supplies.
Producers of cotton were exporting a big chunk of their output to earn the much-needed foreign exchange required to sustain operations to the detriment of the local industry that had scaled down production to less than 50 percent.
Edwin Chimanye, the Zimbabwe Textiles Manufacturers'' Association (ZITMA) chairman, said that this week that cotton producers were now required to secure export permits before pushing lint into external markets.
This will guarantee the local market of adequate lint to keep its machines rolling before excess production could be earmarked for export.
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