SIALKOT: Pakistan Sports Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association has urged the government to announce incentives to help develop the sector, especially research and development (R&D) funds it needs to modernise.

The Sialkot-based exporters of sports goods said the government must invest in the sector, which was one step behind its regional peers, such as China and India, as it was unable to diversify into non-traditional products due to lack of funds.

They believed that with due help from the government, the city’s sports goods industry had the potential to increase its exports from $1.1 billion to $2.5bn in five years.

The industry’s importance can be gauged from the fact that three-fourths of the world’s footballs were manufactured in Sialkot, they said. The industry also produces specialised products that are supplied to top brands and buyers the world over.

Bringing advanced manufacturing and production technologies from abroad would also enable the local industry steeped in tradition to meet global trade challenges, they said.

Safdar Sandal, a former chairman of the association, said that even though the global trend has shifted to machine-made soccer balls, hand-stitched balls were still in demand.

He said exporters have already floated the concept of establishing a soccer village of global standards in Sialkot with the help of the United Nations Industrial Develop­ment Organisation. He added that the industry was also striving to produce high-quality products to cater to the international market.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2017