Tipu7
PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2014
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Dearest expatriate, I understand that when you read and hear about the problems in your country, you are considerably grieved and you think about the best way to affect change. Still, apart from the annual donation to a charitable organization, you seldom itch to act, and mostly, you do nothing at all.
Indeed, Pakistan is too corrupt and disorganized and frustrating for your liking but gather the efforts you make at your job abroad, bring them here and watch wonders unfold. It’s obvious you don’t realize your own potential in your home country, otherwise you would be back already.
Pakistan received nearly fourteen billion dollars in remittances alone this past year. It is without surprise then that some of our best minds live and earn beyond our national borders; they are convinced they can’t do any better in Pakistan and that is where they, and you, are wrong.
Beneath the facade of a state mired in conflict, Pakistan is a country of 200 million individuals. That means an equal number of mouths to feed, people to clothe, educate, provide healthcare to and so on. Since most of the many basic needs are still unmet, with a little bit of foresight and planning, and of course the necessary courage to start a business, one can not only help bridge the gap but make a fortune doing it. True, the success stories are few, but they are inspiring and worth mentioning.
In the education sector, Beaconhouse School system started operations as a Montessori in 1975 with 19 toddlers. Today it is educating 247,000 students across 9 countries – arguably the largest school network of its kind in the world today. In real estate, we have examples like Malik Riaz; although a controversial figure, his project, Bahria Town, is an undeniable success. In healthcare, Imran Khan managed to create a state-of-the-art facility for cancer patients in Lahore and is now working towards a similar project in Peshawar and Karachi.
This is only a glimpse of the success enjoyed by some entrepreneurs/philanthropists in Pakistan. Considering how underdeveloped we are as a nation, the potential for success still far exceeds the collective achievement of our people and this holds true even for relatively mature industries like agriculture. Let me illustrate this with an example in dairy farming.
Pakistan produces 35 billion liters of milk every year. That makes us the fourth largest producer of milk in the world. Experts argue that adopting simple best practices in dairy farming can triple our milk production. If we invest in new technologies however, we can increase production by a staggering 900 percent! With 5 million milk-producing animals, we are sitting idle, yawning away on a virtual gold mine.
Similarly, there are numerous opportunities in the retail, construction, automotive, tourism, financial services, energy, health and mining industries but any hope of manufacturing interest in these areas is often squashed with the fear of insecurity – a theme that sensational journalism thrives on, discouraging potential entrepreneurs from ‘plunging’ into the world of business.
Consequently, young talent hardly ever dreams about establishing itself in Pakistan. Instead, they channel all their energies on leaving, their telescopes fixed on lucrative careers abroad. Everything is pointing outbound.
Today, we have more study abroad education consultants than teachers, more immigration lawyers than career counselors, more English learning centers than vocational schools and finally, more visa applications than undergraduate degrees. We are a nation geared to ‘abandon ship’ and in great part this is happening because we are unable to retain or engage fleeing talent.
In recent times, foreign investments in the shape of eateries like Mc Donald’s, KFC and Savour Foods have successfully captured the imagination (and the growing appetite!) of our middle-income masses. In its wake, a trail of foreign cafe and fast food brands have cropped up to fight for a bigger piece of a bloated pie. So even if we’re lacking a unique proposition or a new line of business, there are enough consumers in Pakistan for us to replicate a business model with marginal differentiation and still find success!
While foreign eateries spread across Pakistan, there has also been a steady increase in business for FMCGs and oil companies. But everything pales in comparison to the hyper-growth of the telecommunication industry. In the last decade, the number of cell phone users in Pakistan has increased from 5 million to 136 million. No other sector has ever witnessed such immense growth before. Another testament to Pakistan’s remarkable potential.
For this reason, and others, bigger players like the U.S. and China continue to call us their bosom buddies, their allies, or any other term of endearment that will woo us into an offering of our natural resources. It is shameful to have the unique prowess to detonate nuclear bombs, but still lack the technology to drill holes into our own coal reserves.
Until our best minds seriously consider the opportunities in Pakistan and take certain risks to make a living here, massive business conglomerates will continue to share resources in Pakistan that are otherwise solely ours to benefit from.
Still, expatriates sitting pretty abroad will dismiss opportunities in Pakistan as ‘rubbish’. They will say, ‘thousands have perished in the War on Terror and no business opportunity is worth risking precious life for’. And they are right. It isn’t. In many cases though, the dangers of a war fought on Pakistan’s North-Western border and its repercussions for the rest of the country are exaggerated to justify various ends.
A brief review of how people perish in Pakistan might put things into perspective.
From a strictly numbers approach, we are losing far more innocent lives to health issues than to terrorist activities. According to intelligence agencies, in 2013, we had lost 49,000 people to the ‘war on terror’ since 2001 – that’s approximately 4000 casualties every year.
Now I do not wish to discount the trauma or suffering of those who lost loved ones to terrorism but just as we follow acts of violence, it’s equally important, if not more, to note that over 200,000 newborns die on their very first day in Pakistan every year. Furthermore, approximately 250,000 additional innocent children die through water borne diseases every year.
Are these children less important or less innocent than anybody else? If not, why does the state not declare a medical emergency to save their lives? It’s because we apportion these deaths to the will of God and without further investigation we leave the subject aside as though nothing can be done about it. It’s because these children die quietly in their homes, without a blast or an attack or any other kind of spectacle that demands attention. It’s because neonatal demise isn’t exactly breaking news. Bomb blasts, on the other hand, with all the excessive animation and sound effects to elaborate every attack are.
When the whole world talks about the lack of security in Pakistan, it’s easy for us to use that premise as a scapegoat to justify the exodus of bright minds from the country. But then again some cities like Karachi have more than one brand or flavor of violence and the many layers of crime can be overwhelming for any sane person. In contrast, cities like Islamabad and Lahore have seen far less conflict and the collective mindset in these cities may be less nervous than others.
Indeed, we all deal with trauma differently and if getting mugged will scar you for life then perhaps you should find abode elsewhere, in safer, securer pastures. If not, chances are that at some point or another some poor thief will probably rob you so that he can feed his own kids. Unfortunately, if we continue to divest from Pakistan, jobs will further diminish and in response crime will most certainly rise. There really is no end to this vicious cycle, unless we check the exodus now.
While the relatively unskilled expatriate ventures abroad for purely monetary benefit, the highly skilled expatriate is also looking for security and an exit strategy if and when the chips are down. Both groups lack the vision to realize how economic prosperity through new investment can reduce crime and gradually begin to solve problems directly stemming from poverty.
Moving on, ‘corruption’ is also often quoted in drawing room conversations as a deterrent to progress: a bogus reason to refrain from new business ventures. Everywhere, across the globe, where business and politics overlap, money is siphoned to line greedy pockets. A recent report of the European Commission estimated that the European economy is losing 120 billion Euros to corruption every year and apparently multinationals enjoying tax relief through investments in not-for-profit foundations contribute more towards this amount than the collective sum of corruption attributed to European governments.
If you want to run your business without greasing any wheels, you may have to wait in line a little longer before your efforts come to fruition because you didn’t get that NOC exactly when you thought you would, but your business will not come to a standstill. There are hugely successful entrepreneurs who no-one will point a finger at or question the integrity of. Ask these entrepreneurs about their journey and learn from their vast experience of doing business in a country like Pakistan.
In reality, establishing an unpopular opinion – an idea almost entirely antithetical to populist sentiment – requires more than fifteen hundred words in a weekly column. It needs legs to move forward; legs only people with significant means and clear intentions are able to provide.
So for those of you who have the time, energy and resources to invest, don’t wait for someone to spoon-feed you with an exhaustive list of opportunities in Pakistan. Take the initiative. Prove the skeptics wrong.
Indeed, Pakistan is too corrupt and disorganized and frustrating for your liking but gather the efforts you make at your job abroad, bring them here and watch wonders unfold. It’s obvious you don’t realize your own potential in your home country, otherwise you would be back already.
Pakistan received nearly fourteen billion dollars in remittances alone this past year. It is without surprise then that some of our best minds live and earn beyond our national borders; they are convinced they can’t do any better in Pakistan and that is where they, and you, are wrong.
Beneath the facade of a state mired in conflict, Pakistan is a country of 200 million individuals. That means an equal number of mouths to feed, people to clothe, educate, provide healthcare to and so on. Since most of the many basic needs are still unmet, with a little bit of foresight and planning, and of course the necessary courage to start a business, one can not only help bridge the gap but make a fortune doing it. True, the success stories are few, but they are inspiring and worth mentioning.
In the education sector, Beaconhouse School system started operations as a Montessori in 1975 with 19 toddlers. Today it is educating 247,000 students across 9 countries – arguably the largest school network of its kind in the world today. In real estate, we have examples like Malik Riaz; although a controversial figure, his project, Bahria Town, is an undeniable success. In healthcare, Imran Khan managed to create a state-of-the-art facility for cancer patients in Lahore and is now working towards a similar project in Peshawar and Karachi.
This is only a glimpse of the success enjoyed by some entrepreneurs/philanthropists in Pakistan. Considering how underdeveloped we are as a nation, the potential for success still far exceeds the collective achievement of our people and this holds true even for relatively mature industries like agriculture. Let me illustrate this with an example in dairy farming.
Pakistan produces 35 billion liters of milk every year. That makes us the fourth largest producer of milk in the world. Experts argue that adopting simple best practices in dairy farming can triple our milk production. If we invest in new technologies however, we can increase production by a staggering 900 percent! With 5 million milk-producing animals, we are sitting idle, yawning away on a virtual gold mine.
Similarly, there are numerous opportunities in the retail, construction, automotive, tourism, financial services, energy, health and mining industries but any hope of manufacturing interest in these areas is often squashed with the fear of insecurity – a theme that sensational journalism thrives on, discouraging potential entrepreneurs from ‘plunging’ into the world of business.
Consequently, young talent hardly ever dreams about establishing itself in Pakistan. Instead, they channel all their energies on leaving, their telescopes fixed on lucrative careers abroad. Everything is pointing outbound.
Today, we have more study abroad education consultants than teachers, more immigration lawyers than career counselors, more English learning centers than vocational schools and finally, more visa applications than undergraduate degrees. We are a nation geared to ‘abandon ship’ and in great part this is happening because we are unable to retain or engage fleeing talent.
In recent times, foreign investments in the shape of eateries like Mc Donald’s, KFC and Savour Foods have successfully captured the imagination (and the growing appetite!) of our middle-income masses. In its wake, a trail of foreign cafe and fast food brands have cropped up to fight for a bigger piece of a bloated pie. So even if we’re lacking a unique proposition or a new line of business, there are enough consumers in Pakistan for us to replicate a business model with marginal differentiation and still find success!
While foreign eateries spread across Pakistan, there has also been a steady increase in business for FMCGs and oil companies. But everything pales in comparison to the hyper-growth of the telecommunication industry. In the last decade, the number of cell phone users in Pakistan has increased from 5 million to 136 million. No other sector has ever witnessed such immense growth before. Another testament to Pakistan’s remarkable potential.
For this reason, and others, bigger players like the U.S. and China continue to call us their bosom buddies, their allies, or any other term of endearment that will woo us into an offering of our natural resources. It is shameful to have the unique prowess to detonate nuclear bombs, but still lack the technology to drill holes into our own coal reserves.
Until our best minds seriously consider the opportunities in Pakistan and take certain risks to make a living here, massive business conglomerates will continue to share resources in Pakistan that are otherwise solely ours to benefit from.
Still, expatriates sitting pretty abroad will dismiss opportunities in Pakistan as ‘rubbish’. They will say, ‘thousands have perished in the War on Terror and no business opportunity is worth risking precious life for’. And they are right. It isn’t. In many cases though, the dangers of a war fought on Pakistan’s North-Western border and its repercussions for the rest of the country are exaggerated to justify various ends.
A brief review of how people perish in Pakistan might put things into perspective.
From a strictly numbers approach, we are losing far more innocent lives to health issues than to terrorist activities. According to intelligence agencies, in 2013, we had lost 49,000 people to the ‘war on terror’ since 2001 – that’s approximately 4000 casualties every year.
Now I do not wish to discount the trauma or suffering of those who lost loved ones to terrorism but just as we follow acts of violence, it’s equally important, if not more, to note that over 200,000 newborns die on their very first day in Pakistan every year. Furthermore, approximately 250,000 additional innocent children die through water borne diseases every year.
Are these children less important or less innocent than anybody else? If not, why does the state not declare a medical emergency to save their lives? It’s because we apportion these deaths to the will of God and without further investigation we leave the subject aside as though nothing can be done about it. It’s because these children die quietly in their homes, without a blast or an attack or any other kind of spectacle that demands attention. It’s because neonatal demise isn’t exactly breaking news. Bomb blasts, on the other hand, with all the excessive animation and sound effects to elaborate every attack are.
When the whole world talks about the lack of security in Pakistan, it’s easy for us to use that premise as a scapegoat to justify the exodus of bright minds from the country. But then again some cities like Karachi have more than one brand or flavor of violence and the many layers of crime can be overwhelming for any sane person. In contrast, cities like Islamabad and Lahore have seen far less conflict and the collective mindset in these cities may be less nervous than others.
Indeed, we all deal with trauma differently and if getting mugged will scar you for life then perhaps you should find abode elsewhere, in safer, securer pastures. If not, chances are that at some point or another some poor thief will probably rob you so that he can feed his own kids. Unfortunately, if we continue to divest from Pakistan, jobs will further diminish and in response crime will most certainly rise. There really is no end to this vicious cycle, unless we check the exodus now.
While the relatively unskilled expatriate ventures abroad for purely monetary benefit, the highly skilled expatriate is also looking for security and an exit strategy if and when the chips are down. Both groups lack the vision to realize how economic prosperity through new investment can reduce crime and gradually begin to solve problems directly stemming from poverty.
Moving on, ‘corruption’ is also often quoted in drawing room conversations as a deterrent to progress: a bogus reason to refrain from new business ventures. Everywhere, across the globe, where business and politics overlap, money is siphoned to line greedy pockets. A recent report of the European Commission estimated that the European economy is losing 120 billion Euros to corruption every year and apparently multinationals enjoying tax relief through investments in not-for-profit foundations contribute more towards this amount than the collective sum of corruption attributed to European governments.
If you want to run your business without greasing any wheels, you may have to wait in line a little longer before your efforts come to fruition because you didn’t get that NOC exactly when you thought you would, but your business will not come to a standstill. There are hugely successful entrepreneurs who no-one will point a finger at or question the integrity of. Ask these entrepreneurs about their journey and learn from their vast experience of doing business in a country like Pakistan.
In reality, establishing an unpopular opinion – an idea almost entirely antithetical to populist sentiment – requires more than fifteen hundred words in a weekly column. It needs legs to move forward; legs only people with significant means and clear intentions are able to provide.
So for those of you who have the time, energy and resources to invest, don’t wait for someone to spoon-feed you with an exhaustive list of opportunities in Pakistan. Take the initiative. Prove the skeptics wrong.
