By Muhammad Asad Tahir Bhawana ISLAMABAD, May 20 (INP-WealthPK): Most of the sports goods production units in Pakistan still use traditional manufacturing methods, which affects their product quality and competitiveness in the international market. Talking to WealthPK, Hassan Saleem, the chief executive officer of Awan Sports Industries Private Limited based in Sialkot, said that inefficient infrastructure and a lack of advanced technologies marred the manufacture of quality products. He said that small industries in Sialkot still used traditional methods to make goods, which affected the quality of their products. Hassan Saleem said that strict World Trade Organisation regulations were another reason for the gradual decline in exports of sports goods compared to the past years. Many exporters could not qualify as authorised vendors in the international market, and the country’s due share in the global export market was taken over by other international competitors. He said that there were no skill training institutes to make the labour force more skilful and familiar with the use of technology. According to him, other factors affecting the sports industry included high tariffs on the import of raw materials and machinery and high rates of utilities like power and gas. He said that the owners of small units also faced issues in availing credit facility. He said since a large number of sports goods manufacturing units were small, the government should extend credit facilities to them, so they could employ innovative technologies to enhance both the quality and production. Hassan Saleem said the government should ensure the provision of power and gas to the industry at subsidised rates. Besides, the government, in collaboration with the industrialists, should find out green energy solutions, he added. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s sports goods exports reached $259.851 million in the first three quarters (July-March) of the current fiscal year 2021-22, showing a 35% increase compared to the previous year, when exports stood at $192.160 million. The exports of footballs increased 40% year-on-year as the country exported $132.936 million worth of footballs in the period compared to $94.730 million last year. The exports of footballs are also expected to increase in the first quarter of the financial year 2022-23 because the official match ball (Al Rihla) of the FIFA World Cup 2022 will be manufactured in Pakistan by Adidas, which is the second-largest sports manufacturer in the world. Adidas is currently working with Forwarding Sports, a sports goods manufacturing company in Sialkot. Forwarding Sports was also the official manufacturer of the 2014 FIFA World Cup match ball ''BRAZUCA''. Besides football, Pakistan’s sports goods industry manufactured many other products such as athletic footwear, volleyballs, rugby balls, beach balls, exercise balls, cricket balls, hockey balls, baseball balls, tennis balls, shuttlecock, nets, gloves, hockey sticks, cricket bats, baseball bats, protective guards, pads and sportswear. All these goods are exported to some of the world’s renowned brands such as Adidas, Nike, Micassa, Puma, Mitre, Select, Umbro, Lotto, Diadora, Decathlon, and Wilsons. These brands source their large portion of supplies of sports goods from Sialkot. The sports industry of Pakistan plays a vital role in the international trade of sports goods. Currently, Pakistan exports its sports goods to countries like Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark. In the past, the exports of sports goods from Pakistan were much higher than the current volume. Pakistan exported sports goods worth $332.516 million in the financial year 2018 and $308.361 million in the fiscal year 2017.