I think if Govt. focus on DIVERSITY, we can do it whatever we want to.
A Pakistani banker who is working in Singapore is sad. Yes, sad because he feels that what Singapore has succeeded in doing, Pakistan has not, in spite of abundance of opportunities.
He came over to meet me when I was in Singapore last week. We lamented the fact that what a tiny city-state has achieved in a short span of just over three decades we could not. We are not the only ones, almost every Pakistani who travels abroad and sees better managed prosperous countries and cities asks the burning question: **“Why can’t we do it?” **
Indeed, we can do it. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We only have to do what others have done right. On my recent visit to Singapore I had an opportunity to visit chemical industries, both were multi-million dollar joint ventures.
In Singapore it was the official opening of BASF-Shell’s $500 million styrene monomer and propylene oxide (SM/PO) plant. This is said to be the largest plant of its kind in Asia. It would be supplying its products to a number of Asia-Pacific countries including Pakistan. There were two lessons to be learnt from the successful opening of this plant.
First, let’s look at the reasons given by Dr. Jurgen Hambrecht, who is a member of the BASF board of executive directors, for choosing Singapore for this project. He underlined: **“Singapore has achieved remarkable success in developing Jurong island as a world-class hub for the chemical industry, deriving the benefit of industry integration and synergy. Singapore is in general a very business-friendly country for foreign investors. The systems are transparent and accountable. It also has the added advantage of an excellent infrastructure and workforce.” **
BASF Petronas Chemicals’ Managing Director, Mr. John Fastier, gave almost identical reasons to us for investing in Kuantun Malaysia. **This $900 million plant is based on propylene from Petronas, the Malaysian oil and gas company, and cracks it further into glacial acrylics acid, butylacrylate, ethylhexylacrylate. It is targeting over $1 billion exports to Asia-Pacific countries including Pakistan. **
Now looking at these projects and the facilities provided by the Singapore government in Jurong and the Malaysian government in Kuantun, I was reminded that in Pakistan for the last 25 years we have been debating on whether to have a Naptha cracking plant or not. The Jurong model is particularly worth studying for Pakistan’s policy makers. Singapore has shortage of land, hence they spent around $4 billion to join seven islands as one in the south of the country and dedicated it as a place for chemical industries. And in the last 20 years it has managed to attract investment worth over $12 billion. Jurong today has some 70 foreign petroleum and chemical companies with an annual output value of US$ 8.8 billion. It employs some 6500 workers.
The beauty of this concept is that all the industries complement each other in one way or another. The port for the transshipment of the products is also part of the Jurong complex. The entire complex is in a way integrated. The raw materials for chemical plants are mostly transported through pipelines. One company handles chemical waste of all the industries on the Island. Realising the workforce requirement of chemical industries, the Singapore government has also established a Chemical Process Technology Centre (CPTC) on Jurong Island. At every point attention has been given to the synergy between various industries based on the Island. One company’s product is another company’s feedstock, a concept, which the German call **“Verbund.” **
Korangi, which has two refineries and a nearby port, could be our Jurong. But what we lack is the ability to make timely decisions, political stability, an investment infrastructure, and above all a safe working environment. “But this is not all,” says Ismail Mahmud, a Pakistani who works on secondment with Vopak, “add to all this the humility with which Singapore government welcomes the foreign investors.” This was very evident in the speech made by Singapore Minister for Trade and Industries, George Yeo, at the opening ceremony of the Ellba plant.
**Now the point to ponder is that Pakistan has ample land, a sizable domestic market and proximity to many countries, which do not produce industrial chemicals, then why have we missed the bus? But it’s still not to late to wake up and work with godspeed. **