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| October 16, 2001 | Tuesday | Rajab 28, 1422 |
Pakistan may lose orders from Germany
FRANKFURT, Oct 15: German sports equipment maker Adidas-Salomon AG said on Monday it may stop producing footballs in Pakistan and move production to China and India in the wake of U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan.
The world’s number two sportswear and equipment maker is currently sourcing footballs to be sold during the 2002 World Cup from four plants in Pakistan.
Tensions in Pakistan have been running high since the United States started bombing neighbouring Afghanistan in response to the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
“We work with four suppliers in Pakistan, and we have plans should things become really bad to move production to China and to India,” Adidas spokeswoman Anne Putz said, but added any move would not lead to a production shortfall.
The plants in Pakistan manufactured two million footballs for Adidas last year and employed as many as 5,000 people as of late 1999. It was unclear what effect there would be on the plants if Adidas production moved out of the country.
Putz said Adidas would move production away from Pakistan if violent unrest made it difficult to export products or transport the necessary raw materials to the factories.
Adidas also produces footballs in Morocco for the retail market, while professional balls are made at a factory in Germany. In total the firm has 267 suppliers in Asia, 181 in Europe and 122 in the United States.
Putz said the firm had also evacuated 18 expatriate employees and their families from an administrative office in Indonesia amid fears of attacks on U.S. and British citizens by radical Indonesian groups.
“All of the affected employees have been relocated,” Putz said, adding that the move had at this stage had no effect on production in Indonesia, home to some of Adidas’ footwear suppliers.—Reuters
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