Surgical and
Medical Instruments Industry of Pakistan (JR 145)
How the
industry developed
Scottish surgeon broke his instrument in 1905, this was
repaired by a lohar from Kotli Loharan, near Sialkot, The lohar was
commissioned to repair and manufacture these instruments. The industry started
and slowly shifted to Sialkot. Surgical industry of Pakistan dates, back to
19th century when some British doctors got their surgical instruments repaired
from the skilled workers of Sialkot and thus it laid foundation to the Sialkot
Surgical Industry. In 1930 the first export of surgical instruments was made to
the UK. Since then the industry has expanded but has existed only as a cottage
industry. In the 60s some modern techniques like: drop forging; sand blasting;
electrolytic polishing; heat treatment etc. were introduced, these were readily
adopted by the local industry. Presently the industry has progressed as a well
mechanized sub sector in Pakistan, concentrated in the industrial city of
Sialkot.
Raw
Materials
Stainless steel and steel forgings both imported as
well as local are major industrial inputs. The other material required is
processed chemicals. The manufacturers have concerns about the quality of the
local steel as it reportedly doesn’t conform to health grade steel. Steel is
mainly imported from Japan, France, Germany & Taiwan. Due to volatile
prices of imported raw material the Sialkot based firms find it difficult to do
long term forecasting. There is a shortage of good quality Titanium because
Titanium import is ban. Therefore the Titanium is being taken from ship
breaking which caused air bubbles in the material.
Current Status
The surgical
instrument industry performed brilliantly, but this was not due to any
government assistance, they had no access to bank sector funds and were able to
survive and grow on their own. Germen and Dutch help was made available though,
but this resulted in reverse technology transfer as the technology was passed
on to surgical manufacturing industry in Ludhiana in East Punjab India.
Surgical instrument industry is one of remarkable trade
source working in our multi products manufacturing city Sialkot which is famous
for exporting the surgical instrument. These instruments are exported around
the globe and 250million US dollar worth surgical instrument are exported to
various international markets which is big show of trade source of Pakistan.
More than 3000 firms are associated with this business
and more than five hundred thousand employees are working in manufacturing of
surgical instruments industries to meet the export orders as well as local
demands. In Sialkot over ten thousand different medical instrument covering all
the sections of surgery and basics are being manufactured, this type of
assortment of instruments is not available anywhere else in the world. The
surgical Industry represents manufacturers and exporters of surgical
Instruments: Electro medical instruments; Body external fixation system;
Implants micro surgery instruments; Cardio vascular instruments; Endoscopic and
gynecological instrument; ENT instruments respirators aid instrument; Personal
beauty care items; Orthopedic instruments; Anesthesia products; Hospital
furniture and dental instruments etc.
The Internationally reputed companies of surgical
Instruments are building joint venture with Pakistani companies reflecting the
confidence of multi nationals in the abilities of Pakistan surgical
manufacturer. According to SIMAP (surgical instrument manufacturer association
of Pakistan) the competitive edge of the sector is: competitive prices;
Shortest delivery time; Varieties of thousands of surgical instruments are
available; and Industry has its own material testing laboratory
They also said that the current world market of medical
products is estimated at US $ 30 billion and it is growing gradually, keeping
in view the constant developments and innovations in this sector a major share
of such huge market can be captured.
In Sialkot over 10,000
different medical instruments, covering all basic and surgical segments, are
being manufactured. Over 99pc of production is centered at Sialkot. The sector
comprises of around 3,000 companies with the labor force ranging from (15-450)
per unit, of which around 30 can be considered large units, and 150 as medium
sized enterprises.
The industry produces on
average over 170m pieces a year. Of the total production, over 95pc is
exported, which includes 60pc of disposable and 40pc of reusable surgical
instruments. A wide range of industries including steel, chemicals, and machine
parts also have strong linkages with the surgical segment.
The sector comprises of around 3,000 companies with production
over 10,000 various medical instruments having the labour force ranging from
(15-450) per unit, of which around 30 can be considered large units, and 150 as
medium sized enterprises. The industry produces on average over 170 million
pieces a year. Of the total production, over 95 percent is exported, which
includes 60 percent of disposable and 40 percent of reusable surgical
instruments.
Availability or raw material is an essential
element for any manufacturing industry. In case of Pakistan surgical industry, besides having
large number of process sub-contractors also includes the suppliers, importers and traders of inputs such as stainless steel, chemicals and other
raw materials. The presence of such input suppliers guarantee the availability of raw materials therefore saving a lot of hassle for the
manufacturers, which in absence of such suppliers have to import raw materials individually. This not only provides inputs at
lower costs due to competition but also saves
transportation and
pre-operating costs
The production of the industry can be broadly
classified into two categories, i.e. disposable
instruments and the
reusable instruments (or
instruments). The
largest market for Pakistani disposable instruments is USA. Majority of the
reusable instruments,
manufactured
in Sialkot, are exported to the
European countries.
Industry at a glance:
|
Total number of units
|
Approx. 2400
|
|
|
Installed
Capacity
|
200
Million
Pieces/annum
|
|
|
Total Capital
Investment
|
Rs. 12.0 billion
|
|
|
No.
of worker
|
100,000-150,000
|
|
|
No.
of people
involved
(Direct/indirect)
|
350,000-450,000
|
|
|
Export
|
US $ 156 Million
|
|
|
World market of
surgical instrument
|
US $ 30 billion
|
|
|
Production
|
100
million Nos.
|
|
|
Source of Machinery
|
Germany, UK, USA, China
|
|
Exports
Surgical goods and medical instruments worth US$
221.298 million were exported from the country in first seven months of the
financial year (2018) as compared the corresponding period of previous year.
During the period from July-January, 2017-18, the exports of medical goods and
surgical instruments grew by 15.27 percent as above mentioned commodities worth
$221.298 million exported as compared the exports of $191.979 million of the
same period last year. Meanwhile, cutlery goods valuing $52.200 million
exported in last seven months as compared the exports of $46.224 million,
showing an increase of 12.93 percent during the period under review, said data
of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
|
Year
|
Value (US$)
|
|
2015-2016
|
358.00
|
|
2014-2015
|
339.00
|
|
2013-2014
|
335.00
|
|
2012-2013
|
303.00
|
|
2011-2012
|
297.00
|
|
2010-2011
|
259.00
|
This is a sector where Pakistan enjoys specialized
skills. Products are exported into high income markets of USA, Germany &
France. Total world market is estimated at 30 billion USD. During 2010-2011
Pakistan exported Surgical & Medical instruments worth USD 260.60 million.
This shows an increase of 13.7% over 2009-2010 export figures of 229.20
million.
The world trade in medical
and surgical industry is huge which goes up to 30
billion dollar. Although Pakistan
fetches a very small share in the world trade, still the local industry possesses specialized skills and workers expertise which carry a century old experience in producing these sophisticated items. Pakistani products are sold in highly developed market of Germany, France, USA, Belgium etc which are also bracketed as high income
markets.
The average export price of Sialkot made surgical items is between dollar 1.5 to 2.5 USD per item (for disposable products)
which is higher than the Chinese export price of
USD 0.35 per item. Pakistan has no competitor in Opthalmic handheld
instruments.
Range of
Production
The surgical equipment, optical and photographic
equipment is described under HS Code 90 and includes.
Ø Irrigation and injection needles,
tips and tubs, for
introducing fluid
Ø Tyndale's, to help
“wedge” open
damaged
issues in the brain
Ø Powered devices,
such as drills,
dermatomes
Ø Scopes and
probes, including fiber
optic endoscopes and tactile
probes
Ø Carriers and appliers
for optical, electronic
and mechanical devices
Ø Ultrasound tissue disruptors,
cryotomes and cutting
laser guides
Ø Measurement devices, such as rulers and clippers
Ø
The city of Sialkot is very well known particularly in Europe for its surgical
industry. There are around 2300 companies engaged in this industry which
produce on average 150 million pieces per year with an estimated value of around
Rs. 22 billion. Almost 95% production is export
oriented.
Pakistan basically produces basic disposable instruments. The growth in this industry segment is low. As compared there is demand of devises and apparatus
components using computer aided electronics which are fetching higher per unit prices.
Therefore the shift of emphasis in the global leading manufacturers is on high
value added products. Practically Sialkot has no competitor on basic component and most of the production from Germany has shifted to Pakistan. The result is that Pakistan produces semi-finished goods which are repackaged in Germany, Europe & USA and then sold internationally
at higher prices. The very low
quantity is consumed locally due to low demand by public health entities and private sector hospitals. In fact, this Sialkot
based industry has limited contacts
with
the local end users,
they
normally operate
through bulk buyers/traders.
Out of 2300 major companies
30 units are large integrated units.
These bigger companies are technically advanced with lot of mechanization in their production
processes. They have also diversified products into medical mechanized
devices. Second category is of medium type of firms which are around 150 in numbers and they handle exports of above 100 million. The small units are 2000
in numbers and they handle export
of up to 80 million.
The details of
surgical instrument which are being exported is as under
ü Instruments and appliances used in medical or
veterinary sciences
ü Instruments and appliances, used in dental sciences
ü Needles, catheters, cannulae
ü Syringes, with or without
needles
ü Oxygen therapy, artificial
respiration/ therapeutic respiration
ü Dentists, barbers or similar chairs and parts thereof
ü Medical,
surgical, dental or veterinary furniture and
parts
ü Dental drill engines,
ü Ophthalmic drill engines, and
appliances
ü Breathe appliances &
gas masks, protective masks
3
Tubular metal needles and needles for
sutures
4
Mechano-therapy application; massage app; psychological aptitude test
apparatus
ü
Labor
Conditions in the Surgical Instrument Manufacture Sector
The initial manufacture of surgical instruments
involves die making, forging, filing, grinding, machining, electroplating, and
heat treatment. Most of these processes are subcontracted to countless small
process specific workshops, with the final finishing (chemical cleaning and
polishing) and quality checking by the final producers. The use of
subcontractors became common in the mid-1970s after a period of labor unrest
and strikes. Subcontracting minimizes company overheads and lowers costs, but,
because subcontractors are not employees of the company and competition is
aggressive, it drives down wages and health and safety standards. Subcontracted
manual laborers are paid per instrument, and the average worker earns around
$2 a day (personal communication). They have no job
security or guarantee of income and no medical insurance or provision of
education for their children. Nearly all subcontractors are forced to seek
wages in advance from the firms that employ them, further disadvantaging these
workers' position in arguing for a fair wage.
Manufacturing
Standards:
Surgical industry is the sector where quality is major
issue of concern. Recently its importance has
increased manifolds given
the increasing global competition
and new regulations
being enforced by the developed countries. These regulations require the
exporters of the developing
countries to introduce
systems focusing on the improvement of management, labor, technology,
and all the other fields which in any way affect the firm.
The surgical instrument standards must be in
conformance with WTO standards. Over 300
Companies have ISO-9002 Certification and about 250 have Certification of Good
Manufacturing Practices5. Sialkot Material Testing Laboratory (SIMTEL) A UNIDO
assisted material testing laboratory has been
set up in
Sialkot in the
year 2000 comprising of three
laboratories:
Spectro Lab
Metallographic Lab
Chemical Testing Lab
Manufacture
and Supply in Sialkot:
Manufacturers of surgical instruments in Sialkot need
to minimize costs to remain competitive. To reduce overheads, most firms
subcontract the initial production of instruments to workers employed in a
small workshop or their own home, with finishing and quality checking of the
product in house before export, quality is checked against European Union or US
standards. Manufacturing firms in Pakistan, however, rarely have the
infrastructure or marketing presence to allow direct trade with the end users
in the destination countries. Most therefore sell to suppliers and retailers in
the developed world with only a small profit margin. These “middle men” (mostly
in Tuttlingen) then trade with end users, predominantly in the US or Western
Europe, usually after a considerable mark up. For example, a pair of fine
surgical scissors will cost
$1.00 to produce, will be exported from Pakistan to
Germany at a price of $1.25 (personal communication), and will probably be sold
to a hospital for nearer $80.00. In 1999, instruments costing a total of $27.5
million were exported in this way from Sialkot.
Problems Faced by the Industry
Pakistan is the leading exporter of surgical instruments, but local
manufacturers receive only 2pc, or $359m, of the $17bn global trade, as most of
it is lost to outsourcing importers. This is due to the
inability of the industry to develop international brands. Basically, local producers are
suppliers to international brands based in the US and Western Europe, who
outsource manufacturing to artisans concentrated in Sialkot. Some international brands are reported
to have shut down manufacturing facilities in their home countries as they get
the best products from Pakistan’s world class artisans. Internationally, social movement of fair trade is initiated to
help producers in developing countries get a fair value for products such as
coffee, sugar, fruit juices etc. Why can’t a fair trade demand be raised for
surgical instruments? Some international brands are reported to have shut down
manufacturing facilities in their home countries as they get the best products
from Pakistani world class artisans
Top 10 buyers are the
US, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, UAE, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and Russia.
America is the largest market for disposable instruments, while a majority of
reusable instruments are exported to the EU. Former . Pakistan is working as a
vendor for other exporting countries. He said these countries sourced products
to Sialkot and then stamped their logo on them for export to the world market. We
can’t even directly export to Islamic countries because of the excessive
registration procedure. , as also the same products are landing in their
markets from Germany and US under international brand names .The ministry of
commerce is a silent spectator to this whole set of affairs of unfair trade
practices. Ironically, the ministry of
commerce has failed to help the sector in developing brands. In the previous
trade policy, the government allocated funds for brand acquisition rather than development.
Sialkot caters to 90pc of the global demand. The government has also failed to
secure direct market access for these products under its so-called preferential
trade agreements. Some industrialists say Germany has closed down its own
industries and is now outsourcing manufacturing to Sialkot.
New mediators are also
emerging. Pakistan’s direct exports of surgical instruments to China and India
are also on the rise. According to a study of the Sustainable Development
Policy Institute, Pakistan’s exports of surgical products rose to $9.6m in 2014
from $7.6m a year earlier. The study indicates a huge potential exists for
increasing direct exports of surgical instruments.
The goods outsourced for
manufacturing in Sialkot by German and UAE based companies find their way into
Indian markets. The US is the larger exporter of surgical instruments to India.
Germany, China and Japan come after. There is a wide margin in import value of
these products from Pakistan for re-export to India.
The surgical sector,
according to industrialists, is facing several problems. These range from
marketing to adoption of new technology. Marketing is a basic problem owing to
a failure to develop local brands. Energy supply is another major handicap.
Neither industrialists
nor the government allocates funds for R&D to innovate new products in
order to stay updated with changing patterns in medical sciences. There is no
training institute to train human resource. As 95pc of the surgical industry
operates in the SME sector, there is a need for a common facility centre to
reduce the cost of production.
Sialkot’s position as a
leading exporter of surgical instruments may also come under threat from
upcoming competition from China and Mexico. These countries not only have cheap
labor, but also use superior technologically for innovation and better materials
for manufacturing.
The surgical sector, one of the five prime export-oriented
sectors of the country has been facing multiple problems. The leakage of
production technology, rise in production cost of surgical instruments and the
export of steel scrap are causing havoc for the metal-related industries as
scrap is the major source of locally produced stainless steel, which fulfils
approximately 45 percent of the requirement. Representatives of Surgical
Instrument Manufacturers Association of Pakistan (SIMAP) were of the view
export of surgical forgings and semi and unfinished products were the most
critical components for decline in surgical instruments exports.“If these
products will be exported to other countries, then local industry will suffer heavily
in shape of loss of export orders”.
The government should check the export of scrap from the
country. Surgical Instrument Manufacturers Association of Pakistan urged
Commerce Ministry and Federal Board of Revenue to immediately impose a ban on
export of forgings, semi-finished and unfinished products.“Both India and
China, only repack or stamp Pakistan-made instruments and sell them as their
own brands.” Lack of brand development is another major issue concerning this
industry. Brand development is such an exercise, which cannot be done by a
company due to the fact it requires huge resources and expertise and support of
the government. India and China, which actually have no manufacturing or
technical skills in this field, are rapidly penetrating in surgical business,
only by doing branding with full support and assistance from their respective
governments. If India could earn huge foreign exchange by brand promotion only,
then why can’t we when we produce world-class medical instruments.
Surgical industry could start earning at least $1 billion within
three years, provided, it is given due attention by the concerned government
departments. The rising utilities costs, increasing prices of raw materials,
high banking service charges, high export refinance rates of central bank and
uneven taxation system are added barriers to the falling exports.“We are the
largest suppliers of medical instruments to United States of America (25
percent) of total export, Germany (20 percent), United Kingdom (10 percent), Italy
(5.0 percent) and United Arab Emirates (5.0 percent).In India, where due to
realistic and practical policies prepared in consultation with the business
community the exports are touching over $140 billion mark. Trade organisations
are not consulted during the preparation of policies and neither are their
recommendations included in the policies.
Exporters of Pakistan share merely over 2 percent ($450
million), of the $21 billion global trade, as most of it is lost to outsourcing
importers. Basically, local producers are suppliers to international brands
based in the United States and Western Europe, who outsource manufacturing to
artisans concentrated in Sialkot.
United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, United
Arab Emirates, Japan, Russia, Mexico and Brazil are main exports destinations.
America is the largest market for disposable instruments, while a majority of
reusable instruments are exported to European Union. The Ministry of Commerce
has failed to help the sector in developing brands.
Pakistan’s direct exports of surgical instruments to China and
India are also on satisfactory level. Pakistan’s exports of surgical products
remained to $9 million in 2016.The surgical sector has been facing bottleneck
in marketing to adoption of new technology. There is no training institute to
train human resource. 95 percent
surgical industry operates in small and medium enterprises sector. There is a
need to increase common facility centers to reduce the cost of production.
Surgical industry is technology based, but in Pakistan
this industry has flourished without sophisticated technology. There is a lack of qualified and trained
engineers in factories. The process supervision and operations management is
done by non-technical personnel. The process of new product development is done
by using reverse engineering, without following proper procedures such as
preparing technical drawings. At this stage of development, to grow further the
industry needs technical assistance in process improvement, operations
management and also for new product development. Latest developments in the industry are threat to the industry as well as an excellent opportunity at the same time. It all depends on the availability or
resources. The Pakistani surgical
instrument industry, in order to
develop on sustainable basis needs to have a strong research and development
base which facilitates the introduction of new materials and
latest processing techniques
In today’s dynamic world technology plays vital role in the development of any field.
Keeping in view the surgical
industry of Pakistan,
in beginning the instruments
manufactured in Pakistani
surgical industry was handmade; but with the passage of time, the industry adopted
to change but this change is so gradual that we are still lagging behind in the
field of technology. These days’ new technologies are taking place of the old
ones, for example:
− CNC Machines (Computer Numeric Control)
− MIS (Medical Invasive Surgery) Instruments These
technologies are adopted by Germany but not here in Sialkot yet. Its reasons
are:
− Unawareness of industrialists about these
technologies
− These are very expensive and our people are unable to
adopt these technologies
− There are no trained people to work according to
these technologies.
One of the basic elements for the growth of any
business is marketing.
Unfortunately, Pakistani surgical industry is far behind in this field. There
is no strategy to deal with the local market. Major portion of
the production is
sold to the international wholesalers and
distributors, who sell these products under their own brand name. When we talk
about the exports, there is bad luck for the cluster that it has a deep history
but it has no own “Brand” developed yet. We are working as vendors
for the other
exporting countries. However,
some entrepreneurs are aware of this problem and they are trying to develop
their own brand.
Research & Development Constraint: Research &
Development is the need of today’s business
for its survival.
Non-adoption of research and
development by manufacturers and exporters is also a major problem of surgical
industry of Pakistan. No attention is given on development and betterment of medical
instruments. There is
an urgent need
that businesses establish research and development cells in their
premises and allocate a certain percentage of their profits precisely on
research and development.
Organizations are made up of people, who are the building
block of that organization. But the human
resources of our surgical industry are not properly managed because people are
not well aware of the resource management. The entrepreneurs themselves execute
every function of HR. They consider placement of a professional or business
graduate as a waste of money; moreover, the professionals are misconceived as
another exploitation tool that might steal their business secrets. There is an
emergent need of a surgical training institute/centre, where current labor
force could be trained for
enhancement of their manufacturing skills and new
entrants could also be trained in this institute.
Financial
Constraint:
Finance is another issue of the cluster, especially for
small enterprises. There is large number of financial institutions and leasing
companies present in Sialkot which are providing financial services. Majority
of the manufacturers consist of vendors, who have small setup. Most of them
have no reach to the banks. They are unaware of how to avail the loan facility.
However, large firms have good relation with the financial institutes and
leasing companies.
Recommendations:
Out of the total production surgical instruments in
Sialkot, approximately over 95% is exported, approximately 100 million
instruments annually. It shows the importance of our surgical goods, it
has the
grand contribution in
our export and foreign
exchange earnings. But still it has been a big scope for more contribution and
development in this field;
The burning issue of this industry is “skilled labor”
availability and this problem can be resolved by the mutual efforts of
government and businessmen by providing technical courses, on job training
courses and machinery handling courses etc. related to this field because there
is a threat of losing the skilled labor due to no proper transfer of skills to
the next generation.
Sialkot is the hub of surgical industry so govt. must
establish the new training and vocational centers under TEVTA and other boards
in Sialkot and its nearby areas e.g. Narowal, Pasroor etc. to attracting the
labor and new comers in the field and provide them the up to date knowledge to
enhance their skills. And recognize the importance of the degrees of TEVTA and
other such institutions to realize the labor their worth. With such efforts,
deficiency of skilled labor can be controlled in coming years.
In surgical field, the production procedure comprises
of series of processes, and it involves the use of latest and expensive technology
therefore the need is to establish “Common Facility Center” in Sialkot to
facilitate the export of surgical items. Govt. should realize this need and
start a project of “Common Facility Center” with the help of businessmen. It
will reduce the cost of production, enhance profit margins and prove fruitful
for boosting export.
In surgical field, there is a crucial need for
developing “R & D Department” to work for the betterment of the production
process as well as for the product development. On the other hand, R&D
departments must establish to explore new markets for boosting the export of
our surgical instruments because our major customers are USA & Europe but
still there is a large scope for us e.g. Iran and Japan is the potential market
but our share of export in these markets are only 0.1%.
With the vital need of “Human Resource” in surgical
industry, there is also a crucial need of “Financial Resources”. In Sialkot, most
businesses are related to cottage industry so, finance is the basic need but
SME’s faces a lot of problems and issues at the time of getting finance (loans)
from financial institutions.
For promoting our global business of surgical items,
we must have
complete awareness about quality standards e.g. ISO and CGMPs etc. and
must try to implement them fully to
build up the
trust on our foreign customers to sustain in such a
competitive world.
In surgical industry, businessmen must focus on new
methodologies of production and must try to adopt the latest technology (e.g.
CNC machines and MIS etc.) in different sections of manufacturing process. They
can do this by maintaining the reserves for this purpose from their profits.
Despite the fact that we produce an immense quantity of
surgical items but still we are far behind in case of “Marketing” of our
products to increase the trade round the globe. There is lack of presentation
in our products in every aspect. Especially, in trade fairs and exhibitions,
TDAP must facilitate our Pakistani traders to present their products in
attractive way to retain the customers.
Exporters
of Sialkot are
the foreign exchange earner for
the country, so the concerned authorities must take steps to communicate with
government to reduce the anxiety of the traders related to tax issue In Sialkot
surgical industry , SME’s have lack of proper management hierarchy. In such
firms, there must be some proper advisory and supervisory authorities to handle
the different production departments. In this way, there is more chance of
efficiency in all departments.
Infrastructure Development: Transportation is the
backbone of export and industrial sector as a heavy portion of the product cost
of an exporters include the transportation expenses and cargo charges. This
issue must be resolved through; Roads linked with rural areas and main cities
must be properly constructed for better
approach and
smoothing the internal trade
directly and export indirectly.
Check & balance of dry port and airport fair system
for controlling the cost and improving the quality of products. Government must
invest heavily in the improvement of physical and financial structure including
shipment, clearance, cargo system, handling at the ports and airports for
smooth flow of export.
To acquire affordable and quality technical assistance
at home, an excellent engineering university should be established in Sialkot
to give boost to the trade.
Today, China and other competitive countries are
entertaining with long term trade deals at reasonably low rates to sustain
their customer for long-run. But Pakistani exporters fails to adopt such
strategies because of constant fluctuation in prices of oil, gas, electricity,
material’s cost etc. Therefore our exporters could not reach out to their real
potential. In this regard Govt. and other trade related bodies must perform
their role by framing some long term projects on the extraction and usage of
natural resources as well as electricity plants.
Surgical
instruments can be
generally divided into six classes by function. These classes are:
Cutting instruments
Grasping or holding instruments
Haemostatic forceps (instruments used to stop blood
flow)
Retractors
Clamps and distractors
Accessories and implants
So, there is a need of product diversification in the
international market time to time in order to capture the new foreign markets. We
cannot ignore that our 80% surgical export is depending on single-use products.
But we should focus on the pricing of them collectively to make the strength of
our products in international market. There is need to reconsider our pricing
strategies of re-useable products and single-use products.
The leading manufacturers and exporters of surgical
items should be encouraged to develop their own brands and labels for their
products. The highest level of value addition occurs when products are sold
under a brand name. Sialkot is the major export oriented city in Pakistan.
Sialkot based export goods are highly appreciated in International markets.
It’s high time for Pakistan to use the opportunities available at international
level. Govt. should encourage and support the leading manufacturers and
exporters of surgical instruments to develop their own brands and labels for
their products. Such steps will ultimately flourish our trade.
Conclusion:
Pakistan has great potential to exploit the
international market of surgical instruments as it has great workforce, talent,
skills, resources, strengths and opportunities to make the way to success.
Moreover, there is large scope of success in this market. But, need of the time
is for government and large players to support this industry .
