SIALKOT, May 23: Arif Mahmood Sheikh, the chairman of Pakistan Sports Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said on Tuesday the soccer-ball industry had switched to machine manufacturing to compete in the international market. “The development is in the national interest, as it will open new vistas of exploring and capturing the international market,” he told journalists at a meeting.

The technology, he said, had become all the more important in the WTO regime and it was high time that the Sialkot soccer-ball industry was pulled out of financial worries by taking effective measures. He said the industry required Rs150 million to march forward and compete in the international market.

He said the Sialkot-based sports goods exporters were fully aware of the changing global quality standards and they were striving for adopting these and enhancing the exports of machine-made soccer balls.

He, however, pointed out that the industry was going through a financial crisis and the PSGMEA and other government institutions concerned were ready to combat it.

Earlier, some of the businessmen regretted that international organisations like the Federation International Football Association and the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry had done nothing practical to pull the Sialkot industry out of difficulties. They expressed fear that the industry might land in a crisis if the government institutions failed to take some effective steps.

It is pertinent to mention that on Nov 23, 2005, the FIFA, the ILO and other foreign bodies, together with the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had agreed at a high-level meeting to launch joint struggle for helping the Sialkot industry out of the crunch. They pledged to provide all possible technical and financial assistance to the industry.

Meanwhile, the SCCI officials said the chamber and the PSGMEA had already decided to establish a “Sports Industry Development Trust” in the district to cope with mechanisation as a threat to 100,000 workers.