Fozia Azam

Pakistan Sports Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PSGMEA) has called for introducing ‘Pakistan Standard Compliance Certificates’ to ensure small and medium enterprises’ compliance with international benchmarks at reasonable charges to strengthen their respective product profiles and attract credible buyers.Talking to WealthPK, PSGMEA secretary general Mohsin Masood pointed out that since international compliance certifications were expensive, being in the range of Rs500,000 to Rs1 million, the investments and costs needed to comply with these standards were unmanageable by SMEs.

“The growing market both at domestic and international levels offers many lucrative investment opportunities to the investors with good rate of returns, and introducing Pakistan Standards Compliance Certifications will help SMEs certify their products more easily and at less expense.” He said the sports goods sector was an important SME sector with significant linkages with other sectors. “At present Pakistan’s sports goods are recognised as a hallmark of quality being sourced to many of the world’s leading sports goods brands and also catering to the demands of the growing international market,” he added.

Mohsin Masood opined that Pakistan’s sports goods industry had great potential for continuous growth provided the government extended support by addressing the future requirements of international brands seeking vendors, guaranteeing environmentally-cleaner production, effective waste management and switching over to solar energy within next two years.

It is necessary to add here that the export earnings of the Sialkot sports city hover around $900 million per annum as it caters to around 70% of the world demand of hand-stitched inflatable balls, which translates into around 40 million balls annually. On average, 3-4 soccer balls are stitched by a stitchery per day. In addition, Sialkot also benefits from the availability of basic infrastructure for industry, including a dry port and an international airport, which serve as an export hub for manufactured goods.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk