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So I see a lot of tweets about government ministers or advisers travelling abroad to secure investment to Pakistan, or talk about increasing exports. Speaking from personal experience, I wouldn’t even advise my worst enemy to do business in Pakistan the way things stand (thread)
unless they have their own people on the ground- and even then, be very wary. My business partner and I wanted to start an ethical clothing business, with a mission to raise awareness of modern slavery and exploitative working conditions.
Our hope was to launch high end casual apparel and signature haute couture designs that targeted the premium lifestyle segment of the market, with most of the profits reinvested into the business or distributed amongst the workers.
The first roadblock we faced, as people living overseas, was the lack of communication skills or professionalism from the factories in Pakistan in responding to queries and emails. And this is with both of us knowing how to speak Urdu. Imagine what business managers who don’t
speak the language wanting to invest in Pakistan might have to go through. Just getting factories to create samples- that we were happy to pay for- was a nightmare. We got a promising lead with one factory agreeing to make samples, but had a ridiculous minimum quantity.
They boasted a lot of recognisable brands as their clients and assured us they had the capability to produce our products. (Thankfully) we still insisted they do samples first before we were going to agree on anything, with my partner flying to Pakistan for this specific reason.
When he got there at the agreed upon duration, the point person wouldn’t pick up his calls. Now we’re worried that we’ve wasted our money on airfare. My partner delayed his return in the hopes that we can salvage something.
A few days before he is to leave, the guy calls and says everything is ready. The finished samples were so hideous, and the workmanship so poor- that you can’t imagine. The guy knows he’s fucked up. But he has the gall to present us with an insane bill and threatens to blackball
us from Karachi factories if we don’t pay up. So, we had a few unpleasant encounters like this along the way. Remember, we didn't *have* to invest in Pakistan, we were only doing so because we wanted to contribute to the country's economy. Others wouldn't be so forgiving.
We finally found a factory that had the ability to produce what we wanted. The samples were absolutely perfect. We hired a quality inspector to ensure everything stays on track. We got regular reports, and there were delays because of several issues- which were understandable-
such as the labels being put on upside down because the workers didn’t know English. But we were happy to accommodate for this. Because we knew the finished product was to our liking. We’d paid for a warehouse and logistics company from the time we were expecting the products.
It’s a substantial investment. When it came to shipping our product from Karachi, there were further delays. Not minor delays, mind you, but proper delays. Each day lost was another loss to us. No proper communication, just told to be patient bec these things happen in Pakistan.
We finally got our product shipped and we were super excited to get started. Imagine our surprise when the products were not the same as the samples. Apparently the factory had switched out the material for a cheaper one.
This was a huge issue bec our whole business plan was predicated on the assumption that we would be targeting the premium lifestyle market. Of course, the factory owner played dumb. We finally got our quality inspector to admit to it- he said that he was paid a % by the factory.
My point is, there are systemic failings when it comes to the way business is done in Pakistan. There is a lack of professionalism. There is no protection for the buyer. People can be exploited every step of the way.
How do you expect ppl to be comfortable investing in the country- all this after putting aside their apprehensions abt the economic instability & exchange rate fluctuations? Any issue you have, you're told, "Yahan aisa hi hota hai. This is the cost of doing business in Pakistan."
