By Our Correspondent
KARACHI: Continuing with its commitment to promoting peace and economic relations between Pakistan and India, the Jang Group and the Times of India have announced plans to hold the third business conference in May 2013 in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Pakistan Business Council.
Announcing the details of the upcoming moot at a meeting with a CII business delegation visiting Karachi, Jang Group’s Group Managing Director Shahrukh Hasan said that the combine is still deliberating whether to hold the conference in the Indian Hyderabad or in Mumbai. “We hope to bring a 100-strong delegation to India,” Hasan told the delegation head Kiran Vohra, who’s the director of Forbes Marshall. “The level of economic collaboration we’ve seen in the two years since we held the first economic conference in India in May 2010 has been unprecedented. Now, we’re hoping the current bonhomie between the two countries matures into more linkages, joint ventures and equity participation,” said Hasan.
Since its inception in January 2010, the Jang Group-Times of India peace initiative Aman ki Asha has organised and supported a number of events to boost economic and trade relations, promote cultural ties and discuss thorny political issues bedevilling relations between the two countries. In May 2012, the 2nd Aman ki Asha Business Conference, titled Dividends, was held in Lahore as a follow up of a similar meet in New Delhi in May 2010.
Appreciating the recent signing of a liberalised visa regime by both countries, Vohra said that his delegation was visiting Pakistan to figure out whether the two sides were ready to do business once the procedural hindrances had been resolved. “There are unresolved issues between our countries that need to be talked about on a government-to-government level but we need for the private sector in both India and Pakistan to see how we can benefit from the opportunities now on offer. That’s why we wanted to come to Pakistan and meet various business associations and talk about the possibilities of doing business.”
According to Vohra, while the details of issues such as certification of Pakistani goods in India still need to be hammered out, these are not enough to derail or even stall the process of doing business. “There are significant opportunities for collaboration in the textile sector, sugar, IT sector and even some manufacturing,” said Vohra.
“We now have to find ways of improving efficiencies by working together so that each of us can have access to a larger market.”
To illustrate his point about potential collaborations, Vohra spoke of the visit by Escorts’ head of exports Rajiv Kumar to the Millat Tractors factory. “Rajiv earlier thought [Millat] would need technology but now he’s convinced they don’t and wants to explore the possibility of co-branding.” According to Vohra, the delegation has also had useful conversations about the possibility of exporting oil to Pakistan.
“Moving forward, we need to look at cross border investments – rather than just trade – as a means to ensuring peace,” said Vohra. “We need to keep the governments in good humour but marginalize them. Like in every other region, business should decide who they want to deal with and why.”
