Raza Khan

The government has decided to build an expo centre in Sialkot city for promotion of business activities, reports WealthPK. The government will provide PKR500 million for construction of the centre besides contributions from the business community, said the Ministry of Commerce in a statement.

An amount of PKR200 million has been set aside for the project in the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) of the Fiscal Year 2023-24. The expo centre will take 30 months to complete. The main objective of the project is to provide a permanent multifunctional space for exhibitions, trade shows, conferences, conventions, presentations, and workshops in order to promote trade activities both at national and international level.

The expo centre will also provide an opportunity for skill development of workers engaged in various industrial sectors in Sialkot and its adjacent cities. The centre will comprise one main hall, four multi-purpose halls and enough space for stalls, offices, gathering and research, said the ministry. According to the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Sialkot is the third largest economic hub in the Punjab province after Lahore and Faisalabad and the second largest source of foreign exchange earnings after Karachi through exports and remittances, said the SCCI.

Tanneries, leather garments, musical instruments, surgical and dental instruments, sportswear including martial arts wear, gloves, badges, seat and walking sticks, cutlery, hunting knives and air guns, bicycles and shoes are the major industrial products of the city. According to the SCCI, the city needed a platform where the business community could display their products and arrange national and international level exhibitions.

The sports goods industry is among the largest manufacturers in the city. Similarly, a large quantity of tanned leather and leather garments is also being manufactured in the city. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan exported sports goods worth $370.53 million during the first eleven months (July-May) of the Fiscal Year 2022-23.

The Lahore-Sialkot Motorway (101 KM) is under construction, which will enable fast movement of goods from Sialkot to other cities. According to the SCCI, the expo centre will help attract more international buyers through trade exhibitions, business seminars, conferences and exchange of trade delegations. According to the Ministry of Commerce, construction on the expo centres in Quetta and Peshawar is also underway.

Credit: INP-WealthPk