The Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers’ Association (PFMA) is preparing to launch the results of an industry study that it has carried out with the backing of the European Commission and the United Nations’ International Trade Centre. These international bodies backed the study as part of a wider commitment to help Pakistan play a fuller role in the global economy.

A local consultancy company, Aktab Associates, carried out the bulk of the work, interviewing the most important companies in the footwear sector in Pakistan, including Bata, Servis, Starlet, Shafi and EPCT. As part of the exercise, it hosted a roundtable discussion and arranged a series of workshops across the country; comments from these meetings form part of the final report.

Waseem Zakaria, a former PFMA chairman, said the sector’s performance in the export market had been “phenomenal”, reaching $140 million in the last year, compared with only $30 million five years ago. “Our share of the $70 billion global market is still small, of course,” he said. “Pakistan’s export target across all sectors is $18 billion for the financial year that is about to end, and we might not achieve it, but the global market is wide open and, if we stay focused on five industry sectors the government has decided to prioritise, our exports are certain to keep increasing.”

Most exports at the moment, around 80%, are leather footwear, the bulk of which goes to the European Union. The Middle East is also an important market, in this case for open sandals. Footwear imports to Pakistan come mostly from China and Thailand, but they are almost all of shoes made from synthetic leather or textiles.

The former PFMA chairman called on the Pakistani government to continue to support the footwear industry and to increase that support by, for example, establishing a “more stable and long-term” policy on duties. This was one of the main findings of the study. It also concluded that the industry in Pakistan had an urgent need of specialist centres for research and development and training.