SIALKOT-Surgical instruments manufacturers, vendors and exporters have urged the government to arrange advanced training programmes and workshops of essential skills for preparing and providing skilled labour to the surgical industry of Sialkot to meet global trade challenges and boost export of surgical instrument.
Leader of surgical industry Jahangir Bajwa stated while talking to the newsmen here on Friday.
Chairman Surgical Instruments Manufacturers Association of Pakistan (SIMAP) Khalilur Rehman Mughal was also present on the occasion.
Jahangir Bajwa said that Sialkot’s surgical industry has been suffering from shortage of skilled labour. He said that more than century-old surgical industry of Sialkot is was in dire need of skilled labour.
“It is time to modernise surgical industry by ensuring early transfer of advanced manufacturing technology from Europe to the industry in Sialkot,” he pointed out.
He disclosed that the surgical industry has enough potential to double exports from existing $400 million within the next couple of years with proper patronage of the government.
On the occasion, Chairman SIMAP Khalilur Rehman asked the surgical exporters to focus on diversification of surgical instruments exports, saying that diversification could help boost surgical instruments’ exports. He said that surgical Industry is producing over 10,000 different medical instruments, covering all sections of Surgical, Dental, Veterinary, Beauty and many other products.
He said that more than century-old surgical industry of Sialkot is in dire need of modernisation and adoption advanced standards of international marketing and brand developing would not only save the surgical industry but also boost it.
He said that the Sialkot based surgical manufacturers and exporters have enough potential to capture international markets of hospitals related surgical items, having market of $1 billion, if government properly patronizes Sialkot’s surgical industry, which has only 1 percent share in this world market consumption.
Jahangir Bajwa revealed that the surgical industry has sought early proper governmental patronage for promotion of the industry and easy access of Sialkot based surgical instruments manufacturers and exporters to international markets, which have a great potential of consumption of Sialkot-made non-traditional surgical instruments, paving the way for increasing surgical exports.