‘Economic compulsions will force us to shake hands'

Business is today driving the agenda on India-Pakistan ties, and if the two governments step aside after putting in place stable rules and policies, the bilateral relationship can move ahead, Mr Wasim Mirza, Managing Director, Swiss Specialty Chemicals, in Karachi, Pakistan, told Business Line.

Excerpts from the interview:

How do you look at Indo-Pak business ties?

Business ties will survive by the sheer instinct of business itself — which is to make money. Whether you run a small, medium or big business, you need to plan for the future. When we met last, eight years ago, business and politics were not intertwined. But now they are; one doesn't work without the other.

We are living in difficult times. Because of our political system the laws keep changing and there are no givens. Any businessman needs to plan for the future, for which he needs certain givens. Last time we had talked about ‘trust deficit” between the two countries. That is now overshadowed by religious extremism on both sides.

Two-and-a-half years ago, during Pakistan's cotton crisis, we booked cotton from India. The prices rocketed worldwide and the Indian suppliers, who had booked and finalised the deal with a handshake, backed out because they were getting better prices elsewhere. Now this is a very, very basic principle of business… once you shake hands, you have to keep the promise. So these are not confidence-building measures.

Tell us about your company.

We are a mid-sized company supplying raw materials, chemicals and technology, with value addition, to companies in the US.

This year, with a bumper crop expected in Pakistan, we may not have too much import from India. But take something like visa. A friend has business interests in India, but recently, when he applied for a visa, he was told: ‘Why do you want to go to India? We don't want you there.”

So it's a trust deficit?

Forget about business deals, nothing is a given in India and Pakistan; if we achieve that, however cumbersome, however difficult, we will find our way around. But that should stay as a policy. Stable policies are necessary.

On the one hand, you have aman ki asha aur phir hamarey yaha ek maulana khadey ho jaatey hei, aap ke waha ek Bal Thackeray khadey ho jaatey hei , and everything becomes zero. That is the issue.

Once these are sorted out, what is the scope for business?

Tremendous. Why not? When Pakistan was formed India said: We won't reinvent the wheel, and will import what we can from you. But after 65 years, why can't we still act like normal, grown-ups, and stick to the rules once they are made?

Why do we have to bully each other all the time? In the past that would not reflect in business deals, now it does.

So how do you look at the future?

Not the inherent desire, but other factors… economic compulsions, will compel us to shake hands.

Indian businessmen would like to understand the Pakistan economy and business opportunities...

They know; don't assume they don't know the details. And we know as well.

Where is the maximum scope for business between two countries?

You name it; right now you have Lux ads being made in Thailand and shown on Indian and Pakistan television in different languages. Sonam Kapoor and Karishma Kapoor endorse Pakistan's lawn fabrics, but why go to Thailand to shoot these ads; why not in India or Pakistan? Coming to areas of business, the rules of engagement should be set, no mater how tough they are. So both sides know and will play it that way… business will find its way, like water does, however big the obstacle is.

And let's not put everything at the door of the government. Somebody has to take the initiative and right now business people, and not government, on both the sides are doing that.

Once issues are decided and it lands on the government's desk they have to listen.

There may be certain reservations from the establishment on both sides, but once the rules are set, they should be implemented.

For example, your leather industry was once told that after five years you will not export a single inch of leather without value addition. Many people took it as just another government thing, and got massacred, but it happened. The bar was raised on value addition.

So I say: Set up the rules, give us a time-frame and leave the rest to businesses. That gives you the time, energy and money to concentrate on building a business model; that is very important.

I find there is a lot of scope for setting up JVs; when it's a question of money, why should we reach each other through Dubai or Singapore? Let's deal directly.

How do you see Pakistan's future vis-à-vis pressure from religious fundamentalists?

We have put our foot down and refuse to budge; that is the only way. The easier option is to give up but you won't do that when your child's future is at stake.

So we'll fight it out, our fight is tougher than yours, our institutions are weaker than yours. The problem is that religion is supposed to be between you and your god; when you make it pubic your problems multiply.

But I'm confident our next generation will do much better than us; we failed miserably because we were caught up in a certain mind-frame but these youngsters don't have the baggage of history.

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