What have you done for Pakistan?

[Med911]

@yazdi

Don’t say it’s the best option if you really want to do something for the country… although it’s a noble/good option.

You can do somethings more than sending charity to the country… even if you opt to live abroad:

1. Buy a vacation house in Pakistan. It will boost the construction industry which will help generate employment here.

2. Keep your money in Pakistani banks in the country. If you fear devaluation of local currency you can always open accounts in your desirable currency. Pakistani banks are reliable and in the 63 years of Pakistan’s existence not a single depositor has lost money in Pakistani banking system… something which countries like Britain and USA can not claim. Your deposits will be channelized in productive sectors in the country which will help generate work in Pakistan. If you calculate the profits you could have earned by keeping your deposits in Pak Rupee in Pakistan in last 10 years it would cover the devaluation many times over… due to high interest rate being offered in Pakistan…

3. Invest your money in equities in Pakistan. There are several very reliable companies with good long term prospects… Engro/ICI/OGDC/MCB/ and many other companies in the long run will perform very well… with a domestic market of 170 million people your money has a lot of potential for growth if invested in the right companies in the long run.

Think beyond charity when you think about Pakistan… the impression you carry is a little exaggerated when you talk about business failures in Pakistan. There are a lot of success stories of expatriate Pakistanis doing excellent business in Pakistan… Sir Pervaiz’s Bestway growth in Pakistan with UBL and cement was phenomenal… much more than he could have imagined in Britain. A lot of failures are also due to lack of managerial skills of expatriates who are doing some middle management jobs and try something big in Pakistan without having the managerial and financial capacity to do the same. Pakistan offers some of the best business opportunities in the world.

There are more than 200 multinationals working in Pakistan from ICI, CocaCola, Lever Brothers to Toyota … the success ratio of these multinationals is almost 100 percent. If these foreign investors could make windfall profits on their investments with mostly Pakistani hired management… there must be some short comings on the part of expatriate Pakistanis also for not having a lot of success stories… eventually blaming the country for their failures.

Buying a house in Pak has its advantages and disadvantages…
First of is the security situation. crime has sky rocketed in recent years. There is hardly a person left in Pak that doesnt have a story to tell.
Secondly, is that really the best way to spend nearly 100 Thousand dollars or more (which incidently was about the price of fully built house in Pindi back in 2004 I believe)? Imagine how many families you could support with that much money!
Plus, buying property requires a degree of responsibility over the property, which ex pats in Particular may not be able to meet.
There are options within Pakistan of course, no doubt. But the examples you cite are all things I can do from outside Pak. As far as trying to make a substantial contribution on the ground, you know aswell as I the constraints we face.