CIP providing technical workforce to cutlery sector

Cutlery Institute of Pakistan (CIP) is successfully functioning and providing technical support to the business community engaged with cutlery industry in Wazirabad. Sources told Business Recorder in Wazirabad on Tuesday that the concept of establishment of CIP was to provide skilled workforce and common facilities to the cutlery sector of Wazirabad but it became non-operational in 2005.
On the pressing demands of cutlery sector in 2008 Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) joined hands for the revival of Cutlery Institute of Pakistan (CIP). The main objectives of revival were to provide semi skilled technical and clerical workforce to the cutlery sector, common facilities, designing and prototyping services and business development and technical advisory services.
The CIP was set up by Trade Development Authority (TDAP) then Export Promotion Bureau of Pakistan (EPB) in collaboration with Pakistan Cutlery and Stainless Utensils Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PSCUMEA) at a cost of Rs 35.90 million and inaugurated in August 2001.
According to available information there are about 200 units which were manufacturing cutlery items of which 50 percent are exporters. Wazirabad city has special repute in manufacturing cutlery items. Internationally, the total trade in table cutlery is around $5 billion while an average global annual growth rate is 4 percent and Pakistan at present caters to less than 0.50 percent of the global cutlery trade.
Over 10 percent export of cutlery was increased to $22.29 million during 2010 while it was during 2009 $20.39 million. The city is known for its quality cutlery products at home and abroad and cutlery items including knives, swords, daggers, axes etc.
The city is producing tableware and non-tableware with almost equal split and about 99 percent of the total exports of cutlery were those of non-tableware. About 50,000 workforce was dependent on the sector of which 20,000 were presently employed and rising population trend will further complicated the problem of unemployment.
The CIP was equipped with modern machinery and currently providing training facilities. The CIP will offer training programmes. In addition, CIP will also introduce short training programmes for entrepreneurs like accounting, book keeping, branding and marketing, quality control, inventory control etc shortly.
The CIP had provided training to 669 students of which 125 were females in different trade fields and currently 100 student are enrolled out of 15 are female. The CIP was providing training in knife assembly, welding, machining, cutlery polishing, computerised cutlery designing, drawing and designing, office management and occupational health and safety.
During the visit it was observed that most of the cutlery units were functioning in residential areas and very few cutlery manufacturing units were functioning on Wazirabad-Gujranwala road because there was no mini industrial estate exist in Wazirabad.
Most of the cutlery manufacturers were of the opinion that the establishment of a mini industrial estate in the area had become vital need, which help in shifting industrial units from residential areas. They suggested that the Punjab government should take initiatives for setting up of mini estate and display centre for exhibition of cutlery products being manufactured in the area. In the absence of industrial estate the foreign buyers were reluctant to visit Wazirabad and timely action of the government would help in enhancing the export volume, they added.