Veganism has grown in popularity in recent years. It entails renouncing from products made with animals, as this is regarded as animal cruelty. The narrative is well-known in the western world and is gaining traction in the oriental world as well. As a result, consumers are shunning animal products. In consequence, it has the potential to harm the country’s key manufacturing industry i.e., the leather industry. On the other hand, vegan products are pouring in as more and more people are converting to veganism. Therefore a shift in the industrial sector of Pakistan is expected.
Pakistan’s leather sector contributes substantially to the country’s GDP. Leather manufacturing accounts for 5.6 percent of the country’s GDP. A total of 800 tanneries work together to meet local demand as well as export leather products across the world. There are two types of leather manufacturers: formal and informal. Even though the informal outnumbers the formal, Pakistan has three major organizations that represent the country’s formal leather sector. Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA), with 159 members, Pakistan Leather Garment Manufacturers and Exporters (PLGMEA), with 169 members, and Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers Association (PFMA), with 195 members, are among them. According to recent research, the leather business employs over 500,000 people. Pakistan sells leather to a number of countries, including Italy, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Korea, and China. This clearly shows that Pakistani leather articles are traded all over the world. Bags, trunks, clothing, and footwear are some of the popular items traded. This is mostly due to the exceptional quality of the leather commodities produced, which is unparalleled by competitors.
The intriguing thing about Pakistan’s leather industry is that it lacks a general framework, suffers from information asymmetry, and market inefficiencies, but it is nonetheless capable of exporting leather goods after meeting local demand. This is where Asif Ali Gohar comes in. Ali is a determined individual that wants to restructure the leather market of the country. Asif Ali is a German citizen of Pakistani origin who arrived in Germany when he was 12 years old. Asif spent the remainder of his life in Hamburg, where he continued his schooling and university. Asif managed to find veganism and embraced the concept for the first time while working on a science project in high school. Later, while studying business management at the University of Hamburg, he had the idea to produce vegan leather. What began as a home-based experiment has evolved into a legitimate scalable business with significant demand. Asif Ali Gohar is presently seeking a team to help him develop his business in Pakistan. He is in need of a team that completely understands the leather economy in Pakistan and can take things up a notch.