A Londoner’s
View of Lahore
By Saquib Jan
London, UK
I was in Lahore recently on a one-week visit.
The trip was an eye-opener for several reasons:
*The new airport - Lahore's Alama Iqbal International
- is bright, clean and efficient. I had cleared
immigration, baggage claim and customs in less
than 20 minutes of my aircraft parking at the
gate.
*A new domestic airline - AirBlue - seems to be
the first decent attempt at giving the tired PIA
some competition and the Pakistani public a genuine
alternative since Pakistani aviation was deregulated
many years back. AirBlue is emulating the business
models of successful low cost carriers in Europe
and the US such as JetBlue, Southwest and Ryanair
by using one aircraft type, Internet based sales
and a genuine low cost product. Despite the low
fares the aircraft are clean, staff are genuinely
friendly and fares are much cheaper than other
existing Pakistani airlines.
*I took my wife to a local hairdressers - Muneeba
- and whilst I was waiting outside, I could not
believe the volume of business this hairdresser'was
doing. Every single minute, a young lady would
be chauffeured to the palour. Drivers would return
an hour later to collect their passengers showing
off their new hairstyles. But it was like...a
new customer would appear after every minute.
And they all looked like people one would normally
expect to see in Beverley Hills, carrying their
Louis Vitton purses and Gucci sunglasses. Only
the sound of the rickshaws reminded me where I
was. That place must be minting money.
*For the first time that I have known there is
genuine optimism, in Lahore at least. Business
is booming. People are making fortunes speculating
on property and land. BMW has opened dealerships
here - Mercedes will follow soon. Apparently simple,
humble housewives have overnight become property
dealers. Restaurants are of a high, consistent
quality and are bursting with customers. Besides
the Gymkhana and Punjab clubs, a new club has
just opened - The Royal Palm? There is a fast
growing middle-class, with huge spending power.
There are Internet cafes, small coffee shops;
most of the fast food chains have been here for
a few years already - all that is missing is a
Starbucks.
*The place feels like the center of a new gold
rush, like the Wild West or like Silicon Valley
in the late nineties. Everyone is talking business.
TV media has exploded with appealing local channels
aimed at business, lifestyle and cooking. This
is in addition to the previous catalogue of PTV,
ARY, GEO, and also international channels. The
press seems much more open and as long as one
is not too personal, constructive crticism and
discussion of politics is very possible without
worry. Barrister Ali Zaffer, who practices before
the Supreme Court, has written several articles
in the Daily Times criticizing the effectiveness
of the NAB in Pakistan.
*Pakistan has benefited hugely from the lifting
of export quotas on textiles and exports are now
leading the growth. There is also as yet untapped
huge scope to develop the country's agricultural
potential.
*Car use has exploded with the introduction of
leasing and finance options making ownership much
more affordable. Most cars, although carrying
foreign and mostly Japanese badges, are built
locally bringing employment to the country. The
result is that major traffic congestion has now
become a daily fact of life and will only get
worse unless major investment is forthcoming to
expand the roads infrastructure.
*During dinner with some prominent political figures,
it was interesting to hear how China needs Pakistan
strategically in the long term and how this relationship
will be key for Pakistan in the 21st Century.
It is China that is pushing for development of
Gwader as this port with its links to North Pakistan
will reduce shipping times to China and greatly
help develop trade. However, the Gwader project
is meeting stiff resistance from the US which
does not want China to get too much support. Dubai,
Bandar Abbas in Iran and some Indian ports are
also fearful of the competition from Gwader. All
these parties would love to see Gwader fail. Plus
Pakistan needs to balance the demands of the Chinese
with those of its banker - the US. There are also
the needs of the local Baloch people who are run
by three tribal leaders that need to be taken
into account.
*It was also gratifying to learn how many businessmen
have also sponsored the funding of free schools
for the poor. These schools are also providing
books for their students.
*There was talk about how Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz
Sharif squandered their opportunities to do good.
Various stories about Benazir's mischief came
to light including how she looted local museums,
how international ambassadors were nothing more
than stooges for her corrupt ways.
The obvious questions are: is this boom/growth
sustainable in the medium to long term and what
impact will the law and order situation have on
it? No doubt the boom is very much linked to the
present administration's ability to keep the international
community happy and also its ability to stay in
power. Another coup and the house of cards could
come tumbling down. The law and order situation
appears to being tackled in a half-hearted way.
There are more police visible on the streets,
there is a fleet of brand new US style police
cars that patrol neighborhoods...but experience
has shown that it is still easily possible to
pay off a traffic cop to 'forget' about a traffic
violation.
Only time will tell how this period of progress
pans out. However, I have a feeling there is so
much pull in the direction of growth - a strategic
relationship with China; being next door to booming
India; the cross-country gas pipeline deal with
Iran and India - that it will be difficult to
derail this galloping economy.
I am confident that very soon FORTUNE magazine,
one of the most respected business journals in
the US or TIME will be writing about the Pakistani
economy in the same way they were writing about
S. Korea or Taiwan 15 years ago. Pakistan just
may be the next Asian Tiger. So if you are looking
for opportunities, now is the time to get into
Pakistan. This unique window of opportunity will
not be here for long - perhaps 3-5 years at the
most - and by the time you read about its success
in the general press, the lowest hanging fruit
will have been harvested.
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