Sialkot - Economy and Industry

Economy and Industry

Sialkot is the fourth largest economic hub in Punjab after Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala. It is commercially linked with the Lahore Stock Exchange through its Sialkot branch, known as the Sialkot Trading Floor (STF). The State Bank of Pakistan and the Export Promotion Bureau of Pakistan have branch offices in Sialkot. After Karachi, Sialkot is Pakistan's second largest source of foreign exchange earnings through its exports and remittances from the overseas manpower. For the past several decades, the manufacturers and exporters of the city have been awarded the annual National Exports Award by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Sialkot has an Industrial Estate and an Export Processing Zone. Another Export Processing Zone is planned along the Sialkot Lahore Motorway. The per capita income of Sialkot is ranked among the highest in Pakistan.

The history of industrialisation of Sialkot is very old. The Damascene craftsmen of Sialkot (koftgars or koftars) were famous during the Mughal era for their fine swords and daggers. Papermaking in Sialkot dates back to the time of the Mughal Emperor Akbar which was famous all over the world. Brick making was another historic skill of the people of the Sialkot and those bricks were known as the "Sialkoti Bricks" throughout South Asia. Most of the states in the South Asian region relied on the slender but strong Sialkoti brickslanateer for the erection of forts, castles, monuments, public buildings, infrastructure construction, etc..

Sialkot is the world's largest producer of hand-sewed footballs, with local factories manufacturing 40~60 million footballs a year, amounting to roughly 70% of world production. There is a well-applied child labour ban, the Atlanta Agreement, in the industry since a 1997 outcry.

During the colonial era British India's first bagpipe works opened in the city, today there are 20 pipe bands in the city. Sialkot is Also providing Dental Instruments, Surgical Instruments, Beauty Instruments and other all sorts of Hospital Equipments. Other important industries in Sialkot include Leather Tanneries, Leather Garments, Musical Instruments, Surgical and Dental Instruments, Sportswear including Martial Arts wear, Gloves, Badges, Seat and Walking Sticks, Cutlery, Hunting Knives, Air Guns and Shotguns. These are all export-oriented businesses and earn billions of dollars every year in foreign exchange. There are several other allied industries which are working day and night as vendors for the automobile industry of Pakistan. Sialkot has also a rich tradition of producing wooden and steel furniture, rubber products, cooking utensils, bicycles, their tyres and tubes and shoes.