ISLAMABAD, June 12: The Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives has finalised a plan to set up business centres in major cities aimed at enhancing Pakistan's falling exports by manufacturing international quality products, particularly through value-addition.

Official sources told Dawn on Tuesday that initially three centres — Sialkot Business and Commerce Centre; Product Development Centre for Composites-Based Sports Goods in Sialkot; and Gujranwala Business Centre – will be set up at a cost of about Rs1 billion, besides having a cotton-seed delinting facility at Rahimyar Khan during the next financial year.

The federal government has agreed to provide funding in the new PSDP to the Ministry of Industries to help set up these centres as part of infrastructure projects.

According to details, for Sialkot Business and Commerce Centre, the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) will sign an agreement with the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry for stipulating arrangements for operation of the centre. The centre will help manufacture export quality products.

Sialkot is known internationally as producer of sports goods, surgical instruments, leather garments, gloves and accessories, sportswear, musical instruments, electro-platting industry, sanitary ware, ceramics, domestic electrical appliances, cutlery, stainless utensils and rubber goods industry.

The local craftsmen produce products while export-oriented entrepreneurs ensure that products reach international destinations.

Around 400,000 people are engaged, directly or indirectly, in export activities, and annual earning of the city hovers around $1 billion which is now expected to further increase through value-addition.

The main objective of the centre will be to establish a shared display facility for industries in Sialkot to promote export of various products.

It will comprise consultancy services, international business linkages, entrepreneur training, business support management and technical support financing for marketing and product development, women entrepreneur development; and child labour and social development constraints.

These services will be free of charge and entrepreneurs who do not have exposure to such business development activities would be provided guidance.

The Product Development Centre for Composites-Based Sports Goods Centre will set up by Smeda at a cost of Rs383.43 million to help design and develop dies and moulds, product testing (physical and chemicals), provide skilled workforce to the sector, enhance productivity by providing technical consultancy services to new and existing industrial units, help develop imported machinery locally through reverse-engineering and facilitate in increasing export of composite-based sports goods.

The Ministry of Industries believes that export-oriented SME clusters in Pakistan have a huge potential, and are also crucial for SME sector’s growth.

Sports goods sector is the main export sector of the city, with total annual exports of over $350 million.

Gujranwala Business Centre will also provide advisory services to businessmen for improved manufacturing products and value- addition for increasing exports.

Cotton-seed delinting facility at Rahimyar Khan will cost Rs163.63 million, and will provide delinting facilities for various varieties of cotton-seeds.

The centre will be equipped with a latest laboratory to provide testing and analytical facilities, like seed-germination testing and moisture testing to farmers.

It will be the first unit in Rahimyar Khan which will provide service to growers and seed companies interested in processing their seed for commercial sale.

As the farmers will have better seed, de-linted through an advanced technology, it would increase per acre yield which would benefit the farmers.

The project will also instigate private investors to establish more such plants, and it may also end the crude method of de-linting that results in wastages and low productivity.

More than 130 seed corporations are working in Rahimyar Khan and are engaged in the sale of delinited seed.

Currently, there is no delinting facility in the area, and private companies either use conventional methods or send their seed bags to Kabirwala plant for delinting process.

It is estimated that in every season, tons of seed goes from Rahimyar Khan to Kabirwala, which costs millions of rupees to the companies.