On Thursday, 7 September 2023, Ambassador Azhar visited the M/s Forward Sports, Sialkot. Major (Retired) Shahid Ali, Deputy Director (Admin) briefed him about the company's achievements.
He informed the High Commissioner that in 1999, Forward Sports was established by Mr. Khawaja Masood Akhtar, a civil engineer who had been working in the football manufacturing industry for some years and whose passion for the game led him to lead his new sweatshop. He further briefed that the first years of Forward Sports of 50 employees proved to be difficult in the intense and competitive market. However, Masood worked his way out starting from 1000 balls per month and finally won his trust over world biggest giant in the market "ADIDAS" in 1994.
He added that currently, Forward is manufacturing three types of Soccer balls (Hand Stitched, Thermal Bonded, and Machine Stitched) with a combine capacity of 750,000 balls per month that made Forward Sports won The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), "Best Export Performance Award" from 2008 to 2016.
