High Commissioner puts forward positive perception of Pakistan
Business Editor Sion Barry talks to the High Commissioner for Pakistan Syed Ibne Abbas on why he wants to see great trading ties between Wales and Pakistan
WELSH firms and entrepreneurs looking to do business in Pakistan will find the reality much different to any negative perceptions, with a business friendly culture, the country’s high commissioner to the UK Syed Abne Abbas said.
On his first official visit to Wales, where he met with AMs and members of the Pakistani community in Wales, Mr Abbas revealed he is keen for a memorandum of understanding to be signed between the two countries to help deepen ties both economically and culturally – as well as confirming that establishing a consular presence in Wales is currently under consideration.
With China and Pakistan creating closer economic and trading ties - through Pakistan China Economic-Corridor (CEPC) projects running into tens of billions of dollars - he said this offered opportunities for Welsh firms in energy and infrastructure.
And he said there were also trading opportunities in agriculture, as well as in the country’s emerging consumer insurance market.
Last week the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif stepped down as the country’s Prime Minister after the Supreme Court disqualified him from elected office. The decision is linked to revelations in the Panama Papers alleging that three of his children used shell companies to buy properties in London. He denies any wrongdoing.
Speaking before the decision at the executive lounge of the Hilton Hotel in the centre of Cardiff, Mr Abbas: “Pakistan is open for business and there are opportunities galore, so come and look at us and don’t get carried away by the perceptions, as there is the reality and perception.
“So my message to the Welsh businesses and entrepreneurs is seeing is believing and come and see for yourself and explore, and don’t try and judge us through the blinkers of others.”
But what does he believe are those perception?
He said: “Everything is on fire or there is terrorism all around. That is a perception, but the reality is that life is very normal, but of course things happen here and there, but barring some pockets,it is absolutely normal.
“And this is not me saying it, but the Washington Post, Bloomberg and the World Bank who are saying there is improving law and order and an improved climate for business. Our growth rate has gone up to 5.4% [World Bank’s projection for 2018] which is good, but still we are working to improve it further.
“And we have recently been upgraded by MSCI [a global investment index] from a frontier market to an emerging market. And our Stock Exchange is one of the best performing in the region, so these are good indicators”.
He said that were trading and investment opportunities for Welsh firms in Pakistan’s key agriculture sector, as well as its emerging consumer insurance industry.
He also highlighted opportunities for the Welsh higher education sector in Pakistan. Swansea University is currently exploring establishing a campus at the expanding Lahore Knowledge Park.
The high commissioner was interested to discover that Cardiff is home to one of the UK’s biggest car insurance firms in Admiral. Car insurance in Pakistan is mandatory but is looking to expand its offer and number of providers. Mr Abbas also expects to see competition opening up in the household insurance market, where he believes it will also become mandatory at some stage.
On agricultural ties Mr Abbas said: “We are an agrarian economy and agriculture seems to be a forte of the Welsh economy. So there is huge opportunities here between our two countries and I am going to intently work on this. I have already expressed my interest during discussions within AMs and told them we want to work closely with you because we are 200 million people. We are an agrarian economy and if you have expertise and skills we would very much like to benefit from that.”
He said that dairy sector in Pakistan in particular could benefit from western expertise.
He added: “Pakistan is the fourth or fifth largest producer of milk in the world, but unfortunately, by not having real infrastructure, most of that gets wasted. So that is one ready sector one could look at. We would like to have an MOU with the Welsh Government. I have talked to AMs, but not formally conveyed that [to the Welsh Government], but that is my intention.
On educational ties he said: “There are huge opportunities like in Lahore. If Swansea University is looking at this [campus], this is a great opportunity and let me assure you we are welcoming to foreign universities to have a footprint in Pakistan.”
The high commissioner said that Brexit was a matter for the UK, but believes it could create opportunities after the UK leaves the EU.
In Wales the Pakistani diaspora community is put at around 20,000.
Mr Abbas said: “So we have to make it work [Brexit] to our advantage and there are lots of opportunities, because after Brexit the UK will be looking beyond Europe and markets which were not looked at so intently in the past.
“And we have historic and strong relationships [with UK] and a shared past and history, so we are quite upbeat that post-Brexit we really will be able to have useful relations.”
However, he said that from a higher education perspective, due to visa related restrictions, the UK is no longer seen as the favoured place to go to study outside of Pakistan.
He said: “Previously everyone one looked up to the UK for education and opportunities. So when somebody thought of going abroad for education the first destination that would come to mind was the UK, because of our history, shared past, shared language the Commonwealth... you name it. But of late, and I would say for a few years, because of some of these restrictions, students have started looking elsewhere and to my dismay they have already thought of other destinations such as Canada Australia and New Zealand.
“The authorities are aware of that and I am sure in due course a correction will take place.”
On the radicalisation of young Muslims he said: “My message is loud and clear to all people and that is stand up and be counted and be part of the mainstream, this is the message I always give.
“On extremism in young British Muslims, irrespective of ethnicity, there is also responsibility on the British Government in the sense that they have to find out way it is