Editing Sialkot (section)

== Economy ==
Sialkot is a wealthy city relative to the rest of Pakistan, with a GDP (nominal) of $13 Billions and a per capita income in 2021 estimated at $18500.<ref name="anwar">{{cite book|last1=Anwar|first1=Nausheen|title=Infrastructure Redux: Crisis, Progress in Industrial Pakistan & Beyond|date=2014|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781137448170|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNUaBgAAQBAJ&q=sialkot&pg=PT84|access-date=11 October 2017}}</ref> The city was considered to be one of [[British India]]'s most industrialised cities,<ref name="anwar" /> though its economy would later be largely decimated by violence and capital flight following the [[Partition of India|Partition]].<ref name="anwar" /> The city's economy rebounded, and Sialkot now forms part of the relatively industriazised region of northern Punjab that is sometimes referred to as the ''Golden Triangle.''<ref name=":11" />

Sialkot has been noted by Britain's ''[[The Economist]]'' magazine as a "world-class manufacturing hub" with strong export industries.<ref name="economist" /> As of 2017, Sialkot exported US$2.5&nbsp;billion worth of goods which is equal to 10% of Pakistan's total exports (US$25&nbsp;billion).<ref name="economi" /> 250,000 residents are employed in Sialkot's industries,<ref name="anwar" /> with most enterprises in the city being small and funded by family savings.<ref name="Dinh" /> Sialkot's Chamber of Commerce had over 6,500 members in 2010, with most active in the leather, sporting goods, and surgical instruments industry.<ref name="Dinh" /> The [[Sialkot Dry Port]] offers local producers quick access to Pakistani Customs, as well as to logistics and transportation.<ref name="economist" /> [[File:Bab_ay_Sialkot.jpg|thumb|Sialkot Gate]]

Despite being cut off from its historic economic heartland in [[Kashmir]], Sialkot has managed to position itself into one of Pakistan's most prosperous cities, exporting up to 10% of all Pakistani exports.<ref name=economist/> Its sporting goods firms have been particularly successful, and have produced items for global brands such as [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]], [[Adidas]], [[Reebok]], and [[Puma (brand)|Puma]].<ref name="anwar"/> Balls for the [[2014 FIFA World Cup]], [[2018 FIFA World Cup]] and [[2022 FIFA World Cup]] were made by [[Forward Sports]], a Sialkot-based company.<ref name=FIFA/> The city has been labeled as the ''Football manufacturing capital of the World'',<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 November 2022 |title=World's Football Manufacturing Capital in Pakistan Gets a Green Makeover |url=https://www.adb.org/news/videos/world-s-football-manufacturing-capital-pakistan-gets-green-makeover#:~:text=If%2520you%2520have%2520ever%2520played,World%2520Cup%2520in%2520Doha%252C%2520Qatar.&ved=2ahUKEwja1NLpi9T7AhVxwjgGHQKMARYQFnoECAsQBQ&usg=AOvVaw1cGWtOMkcj9wAvA_Rfhy4r |access-date=2022-11-29}}</ref> as it produces over 70% of all [[Association football|footballs]] manufactured in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asian Development Bank |url=https://www.adb.org/news/videos/world-s-football-manufacturing-capital-pakistan-gets-green-makeover&ved=2ahUKEwjosMrditT7AhXv6zgGHfPRD7YQFnoECAsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1cGWtOMkcj9wAvA_Rfhy4r |access-date=2022-11-29}}</ref>

Sialkot's business community has joined with the local government to maintain the city's infrastructure, as the local government has limited capacity to fund such maintenance.<ref name="anwar"/> The business community was instrumental in the establishment of Sialkot's Dry Port in 1985,<ref name="Dinh">{{cite book|last1=Dinh|first1=Hinh|title=Tales from the Development Frontier: How China and Other Countries Harness Light Manufacturing to Create Jobs and Prosperity|date=2011|publisher=World Bank|isbn=9780821399897}}</ref> and further helped re-pave the city's roads.<ref name="economist" /> Sialkot's business community also largely funded the [[Sialkot International Airport]]—opened in 2011 as Pakistan's first privately owned public airport.<ref name=economist/>

Sialkot is also the only city in Pakistan to have its very own commercial airline, [[AirSial|Airsial]]. This airline is managed by the business community of Sialkot based at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industries and offers  direct flights from Sialkot to [[Bahrain]], [[Oman]], [[Qatar]], [[Saudi Arabia]], and the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rizvi |first=Muzaffar |date=2022-08-22 |title=AirSial gets nod to start international flights |url=https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/airsial-gets-nod-to-start-international-flights |access-date=2022-09-02 |website=Khaleej Times |language=en}}</ref>

=== Industry ===

Sialkot is the world's largest producer of hand-sewn [[ball (association football)|football]]s, with local factories manufacturing 40–60&nbsp;million footballs a year, amounting to roughly 60% of world production.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Eriksen|first1=Thomas Hylland|title=Globalization: The Key Concepts|date=2007|publisher=Berg|isbn=9781847886101|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trYXD-uXHsMC&q=sialkot+economy&pg=PT71|access-date=11 October 2017}}</ref> Since the [[2014 FIFA World Cup]], footballs for the official matches are being made by [[Forward Sports]], a company based in Sialkot.<ref name="FIFA">{{Cite web |date=9 June 2014 |title=Brazilian ambassador unveils Pak made FIFA soccer ball |url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-150235-Brazilian-ambassador-unveils-Pak-made-FIFA-soccer-ball |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140612083157/http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-150235-Brazilian-ambassador-unveils-Pak-made-FIFA-soccer-ball |archive-date=12 June 2014 |website=The News International}}</ref> Clustering of sports goods industrial units has allowed for firms in Sialkot to become highly specialised, and to benefit from joint action and external economies.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Jovanović|editor1-first=Miroslav N.|title=Economic integration and spatial location of firms and industries: transnational corporations and search for evidence|date=2007|publisher=Edward Elgar|isbn=9781845425838|page=468|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1fMJAQAAMAAJ&q=sialkot+economy|access-date=11 October 2017}}</ref> There is a well-applied child labour ban, the [[Atlanta Agreement]], in the industry since a 1997 outcry,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,683873,00.html|title=The Football Stitchers of Sialkot|author=Hasnain Kazim|date=16 March 2010|newspaper=Spiegel International|access-date=7 November 2011}}</ref> and the local industry now funds the Independent Monitoring Association for Child Labour to regulate factories.<ref name="Dinh" />

Sialkot is also the world's largest centre of surgical instrument manufacturing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fairmedtrade.org.uk|title=BMA – Fair Medical Trade|website=www.fairmedtrade.org.uk|access-date=3 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308134934/http://www.fairmedtrade.org.uk/|archive-date=8 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sialkot was first noted to be a centre of metalwork in the 1890s, and the city's association with surgical instruments came from the need to repair, and subsequently manufacture, surgical instruments for the nearby Mission hospital. By the 1920s, surgical instruments were being manufactured for use throughout [[British India]], with demand boosted by further by [[World War II]].<ref name=EP />

The city's surgical instrument manufacturing industry benefits from a clustering effect, in which larger manufacturers remain in close contact with smaller and specialised industries that can efficiently perform contracted work.<ref name=EP>{{cite web|url=http://emergingpakistan.gov.pk/sectors/surgical-goods/ |title=Surgical Goods         |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628033619/http://emergingpakistan.gov.pk/sectors/surgical-goods/ |date=19 December 2017|archive-date=28 June 2020|website=Emerging Pakistan, Government of Pakistan website|access-date=30 January 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref> The industry is made up of a few hundred small and medium size enterprises, supported by thousands of subcontractors, suppliers, and those providing other ancillary services. The bulk of exports are destined for the United States and [[European Union]].<ref name=EP />

Sialkot first became a centre for sporting goods manufacturing during the colonial era. Enterprises were initially inaugurated for the recreation of British troops stationed along the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–2010)|North West Frontier]].<ref name="anwar" /> Nearby timber reserves served to initially allure the industry to Sialkot.<ref name="anwar" /> The city's Muslim craftsmen generally manufactured the goods, while Sikh and Hindu merchants of the Sindhi ''Bania'', ''Arora'', and Punjabi ''Khatri'' castes acted like middle men to bring goods to market.<ref name="anwar" /> Sialkot now produces a wide array of sporting goods, including footballs and hockey sticks, cricket gear, gloves that are used in international games comprising the Olympics and World Cups.<ref name="news">{{Cite web |date=10 October 2020 |title=Sialkot vital economic, industrial hub of country |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/727148-sialkot-vital-economic-industrial-hub-of-country |access-date=29 October 2020 |website=www.thenews.com.pk}}</ref><ref name="economist" />

Sialkot is also noted for its leather goods. Leather for footballs is sourced from nearby farms,<ref name="Dinh" /> while Sialkot's leather workers craft some of Germany's most prized leather ''[[lederhosen]]'' trousers.<ref name="economist" />

Sialkot also has a large share in the agricultural sector. It predominantly produces [[Basmati rice]] varieties, [[wheat]] and [[sugarcane]]. Its area is {{cvt|3,015|km2}}, at least {{cvt|642,624|acre}} are under cultivation. Potato and sunflower were evident among the minor crops of the district.<ref name="Sialkot">{{Cite web|title= Sialkot — a city with many feathers in its cap|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1625404|website=Dawn|date=24 May 2021|access-date=10 June 2021}}</ref>

=== Public-Private Partnerships ===
Sialkot has a productive relationship between the civic administration and the city's entrepreneurs,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21709344-how-small-pakistani-city-became-world-class-manufacturing-hub-if-you-want-it-done-right|title=If you want it done right|newspaper=The Economist|date=27 October 2016|access-date=1 February 2018}}</ref> that dates to the colonial era. Sialkot's infrastructure was paid for by local taxes on industry,<ref name="anwar" /> and the city was one of the few in British Raj to have its own electric utility company.<ref name="anwar" />

Modern Sialkot's business community has assumed responsibility for developing infrastructure when the civic administration is unable to deliver requested services.<ref name="economist" /> The city's Chamber of Commerce established the [[Sialkot Dry Port]], the country's first dry-port in 1985 to reduce transit times by offering faster customs services.<ref name="economist" /> Members of the Chamber of Commerce allowed paid fees to help resurface the city's streets.<ref name="economist" /> The [[Sialkot International Airport]] was established by the local businesses community, is the only private airport in Pakistan.<ref name="economi">{{cite news|title=How a small Pakistani city became a world-class manufacturing hub|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21709344-how-small-pakistani-city-became-world-class-manufacturing-hub-if-you-want-it-done-right|access-date=29 October 2016|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=29 October 2016}}</ref>