SIALKOT: Mansoor Ahmed, President, Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) said on Sunday the SCCI had focused its special attention on enhancing export volume. Talking to media sources, he said that strengthening of national economy had become a significant imperative at this juncture and business community of Sialkot was ready to play its vibrant role with missionary zeal in this regard. In this regard, special attention is being paid to strengthen the SME sector, he added. Sialkot is an export-oriented city as well as a hub of cottage industry, which represents SME sector. The traders are playing a significant role in not only providing employment opportunities but also strengthening the national exchequer, he added. “We are actively considering to arrange foreign tours for SMEs with the active cooperation of Commerce Ministry and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP),” he noted. The SCCI President further said that the majority of local SMEs were running their business on self-finance bases adding that the unique export culture of Sialkot was based on SME set ups and there were very few big industrial units. Sialkot is earning US 2 billion dollars through its exports annually. The step was being taken to supplement the capacity of SMEs to enable them to reduce the production costs and to further improve the quality of their products to cope with the international markets easily, he said. He added that a maximum participation of SMEs would be ensured in trade delegations while seminars and workshops would also be arranged for creating awareness among the SMEs about the advancement of international markets. The SCCI President was of the opinion that technology upgradation, setting up of organized mini industrial estates and common facility centers are direly needed in this export-oriented city. He said that these mini industrial areas should be developed in outskirts of Sialkot for providing employment opportunities to industrial workers to their doorstep.