By Abdul Ghani

The government will launch a Rs2.8 billion workforce development initiative to systematically enhance workforce productivity and technical competence across the sectors of surgical instruments and emerging medical devices by upgrading technical training centres in Sialkot and allied cluster areas, according to a document available with Wealth Pakistan.

The initiative “Workforce Development for Surgical Sector” will be executed by the Ministry of Industries and Production through Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), in partnership with the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) and provincial Technical Education and Vocational Training Authorities (TEVTAs).

The proposed programme will focus on skills gap assessment, curriculum development, rehabilitation and expansion of training centres, provision of modern training equipment, short-course certification programmes, and trainer development.

Pakistan’s surgical instruments sector is largely concentrated in Sialkot, contributing around 90 per cent of the country’s activity in this category. The sector recorded exports of approximately $449 million in 2024, making Pakistan one of the largest exporters of surgical instruments globally. However, the sector’s share in the global market remains limited, mainly due to slow progress towards higher-value product categories and gaps in precision manufacturing, quality assurance and compliance documentation.

The official document notes that while countries such as India and Vietnam have grown faster in the surgical and medical instruments market, Pakistan’s share declined from 0.43 per cent to 0.33 per cent between 2015 and 2024. The sector has a long-term export target of $2 billion by 2039, which would require a major shift from basic surgical instruments towards higher-value medical, dental and ophthalmic instruments.

Under the project, a detailed occupational skills analysis will be conducted across the surgical instruments value chain, including forging, CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machining, grinding and polishing, electro-polishing, passivation, quality control and documentation.

Competency-based curricula will be developed for priority trades, incorporating compliance documentation skills, ISO 13485 quality management principles, basic Medical Device Regulation (MDR/CE) awareness and traceability requirements demanded by international buyers.

Technical training centres in Sialkot will be rehabilitated, expanded and re-equipped with modern facilities, including precision machining labs, grinding and polishing workshops, quality control stations and compliance documentation training facilities.

The programme also proposes procurement of CNC machines, powder metallurgy-based machine tools, casting metal-in-mould technology, extreme low-temperature quenching equipment, bench tools, metrology equipment, hardness and surface testing instruments, and modern quality documentation systems.

Structured short-course, certificate and supervisory-level training will be delivered to workers across forging, precision manufacturing, heat treatment, machining, less fabrication, quality assurance and export documentation. The initiative will benefit both new entrants and mid-career workers.

The project will also develop in-country trainers through partnerships with technical institutions and, where required, through international collaboration with medical devices training bodies.

As per the proposed financing plan, the total PSDP requirement is Rs2.8 billion, with no foreign exchange component. The project will be implemented in phases over five financial years, starting with Rs280 million in FY2026-27, followed by Rs840 million in FY2027-28, and Rs560 million each year from FY2028-29 to FY2030-31.

SMEDA will lead project coordination and implementation, while NAVTTC will provide national skills framework alignment. Provincial TEVTAs will coordinate training delivery at Sialkot-based institutions. Industry associations, including the Sialkot Surgical Instruments Manufacturers Association, will be engaged for skills gap assessment, curriculum validation and trainee placement.

The expected outcomes include upgraded technical training centres equipped with modern machinery, updated compliance-aligned curricula for surgical sector trades, increased availability of trained and certified workers in the Sialkot cluster, improved productivity, better quality consistency, and stronger regulatory documentation discipline across firms.

The initiative can help Pakistan move beyond traditional low-margin surgical instruments and strengthen its position in higher-value regulated medical product categories, provided the project is implemented with strong industry participation and export-focused monitoring.

Credit: INP-WealthPk