Two motorcycles collide, Ben Hur style, spilling four lads out across the roadway, slick with gray water. They pick themselves up, brush off their clothes, pull fenders and other peripherals back into place, then speed away. Not one harsh word is exchanged. Nor is there a single helmet among the lot of them.
Welcome to the old Saddar market area of Karachi, Pakistan, where computers, mobile devices, and other electronics are sold. Business is booming here, with goods flying out of the stores like birds freed from a cage.
There is a hunt going on. Nearby in the same old downtown area on the following night, I spot two men attempting to climb over an iron fence. They are the first Westerners that I’ve seen outside a hotel in more than two weeks here. They are attempting to cross a busy street and have become stranded by heavy traffic. I wonder if they will starve.
Leading the Market
The hunt I’m on is to discover markets for information technology in Pakistan and to find software and call center firms that will perform well if provided with outsourcing contracts from U.S. clients.
As U.S. firms attempt to follow the market into an increasingly saturated India, Indian firms are looking to lower their costs by coming to Pakistan, which is 30 percent cheaper than India for IT work and has an underutilized talent pool of English speakers and computer science graduates.
These Indian firms are onto something. Why follow the market when you can lead it?
Before the Boom
Karachi feels like the Bangalore that I knew in 1995, when I was there to help found a software startup specializing in artificial intelligence. That was before the boom that has strained the availability of high quality IT labor availability across all of India except Kolkata (formerly Calcutta).
Pakistan now has better long-term economic fundamentals than India did both then and now. With inflation at 4 percent per year, a good track record on reducing foreign debt, and a prime minister whose last job was as the No. 3 person at Citibank, Pakistan has been sending strong signals on investment and trade.
Pakistan taxes domestic IT services at 5 percent. IT products and services destined for international markets are not taxed at all. This compares to India’s new 36 percent tax on foreign owned IT and research and development operations there. India will always have a strong position in the market for global IT services, but Pakistan’s emergence signals new high quality, low-cost service options — and a less protectionist market for U.S. exports.
Back Alleys of Karachi
In the back alleys of this megalopolis of 30 million people (14 million in the city proper) on the shores of the Arabian Sea, I have yet to stumble upon a hidden outsourcing facility.
Staying in a rundown colonial-era mansion in downtown Kolkata a few years ago, I was surprised to find that an old horse stable on the property had been turned into an Oracle service center. It still looked like a stable. Inside the dimly lit room were rows of tiny monochrome monitors, manned by quiet workers, mostly women.
“Can you find us any Oracle work?” asked the mansion’s owner.
“Can you find these people bigger monitors?” should have been my reply, “and a proper restroom?”
Here in Karachi, everything has been on the up and up, so far.
Expectations
In Karachi I expected to see a bunch of brand new companies going after bottom-end business from the U.S. In the call center space, there are almost a dozen firms like that in Pakistan now, compared to half a dozen merchant firms here that are going after high-end business.
Karachi has only seen three call center failures over the last two years, all small operations. In 18 months, this number is expected to increase as unprepared investors enter and exit the field.
Pakistan’s government is pushing local investors to start IT businesses here. Because neither the government nor local investors have much of an idea about where new IT firms should focus, there is a risk that the IT industry will repeat the mistakes made over the last five years in India.
In India, the hype about IT drove countless entrepreneurs to engage in businesses in which they had no chance of success. In that country I’ve seen software firms open, maintain a full staff, and then close without ever implementing a single commercial contract. One in Chennai went on that way for three years. It’s painful to watch and even more painful to try to work with people in those circumstances.
Established History
One surprise about Pakistan’s software industry is that there are numerous well-established firms that have been in business here for a long time. Pakistani IT firms have been quietly doing work for international clients such as Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Fry’s Electronics while those clients’ slower competitors follow the herd into Pakistan’s neighbor.
The oldest international outsourcing firm in Pakistan is Solutions, which started providing payroll-processing services in 1977 and now builds and customizes mortgage processing and escrow software.
A host of hardware support firms and ISPs have long histories in Pakistan too. International technology firms have generally not bothered to set up permanent support operations here. They have made minimal marketing efforts in Pakistan, or have done so indirectly, through languid Indian offices with no interest in selling or supporting anything in Pakistan.
How To Export to Pakistan
American firms seem clueless about marketing to Pakistan, constantly repeating the same strategic mistakes. Red Hat, for example, by selling to Pakistan through India, has seriously undermined its market potential in this country. Red Hat’s Indian office reportedly hoards marketing funds and research and development resources. It also refuses to sell the full range of Red Hat products to firms in Pakistan.
Symantec’s arrangement of selling to Pakistan through South Africa is another example of marketing ineffectuality.
American firms need to make direct sales relationships with distributors in Pakistan. Otherwise, they will continue to abandon the market to local firms and to the Europeans. Hiring non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the U.S. to head sales and marketing efforts directed at Pakistan invites problems.
Domestic Focus
Home grown IT service firms in Pakistan have tended to focus on the domestic market. A good example is ZRG.com. This Karachi-based firm builds and sells its own automated call distributors (ACDs), interactive voice response units (IVRs), recording devices, and other call handling solutions.
ZRG.com has never worked on a project that involved having its corporate customers make or receive calls outside of Pakistan. The scale of the projects that they have been involved in has also been small. ZRG’s largest call center project to date is 225 seats.
Other Pakistani firms have taken U.S. products and provided ad-ons to make them faster and cheaper to use, as ArwenTech.com has done with Cisco routers.
E-Commerce
One firm to watch is InfiniLogic.com, which provides content to more than 4,500 e-commerce Web sites around the globe. Their sales people work closely with their technical staff to help make sure that clients’ expectations are met. They hired overseas Pakistanis returning from the U.S., whose Americanized speech often causes clients to think they are dealing with a U.S. firm.
To expand their international presence, InfiniLogic’s COO Ayub Khan went to a language school in Karachi and asked two German language instructors there to join his German language services section. To convince them, Ayub offered the instructors twice what they were making as teachers.
Ayub has turned down opportunities for mid-level or low-level call center work, preferring to focus on his firm’s core e-commerce capabilities. It was a surprise to hear Ayub’s perfect English accent, acquired growing up and working in England.
Competitive Position
Karachi’s biggest surprise came at e-commerce infrastructure firm Etilize.com. When I asked their cofounder and CTO, Aamir Baig, who he was competing against, I expected that we were going to have “the India conversation” again. Instead, Aamir responded by saying that his competitors are in Israel and the U.S. One is also in Russia.
“India last year had IT exports of [US]$10 billion to $14 billion, whereas Israel had $35 billion,” Aamir said, adding that Israel’s population is only about 7 million people, including Palestinians. India, in comparison, has more than 1 billion people.
Aamir said that his firm is not going to compete with India for low-end work. Instead, he competes with firms in the U.S. and Israel — on the basis of brainpower.
Aamir has lived most of his life in the U.S., although he was born in Pakistan. Hip, handsome and well spoken, I asked him why he had chosen to move away from the U.S. and locate his e-commerce firm in Karachi.
“People are what it really boils down to,” Aamir said, adding, “Pakistan was our natural first choice.”
Anthony Mitchell , an E-Commerce Times columnist, has beeninvolved with the Indian IT industry since 1987, specializing through InternationalStaff.net in offshore process migration, call center program management, turnkey software development and help desk management.
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Its a nice effort done by Anthony Mitchell about the current state of IT prospects in Pakistan. Such articles will help giving an idea to foreign companies that how good and promising is the IT environment in Pakistan. Just as mentioned by the author that along with good no. of mid size software companies, no. of multinational IT giants are also working in Karachi-Pakistan, its also the same case in other Pakistani cites like Lahore and Islamabad and this no. is growing everyday. One wrong perception that hinders decision of many foreign IT companies to initiate offshore offices in Pakistan is there security concern in Pakistan. This wrong perception should be cleared by the facts mentioned in this article that if such big IT giants have not only started there business but r also growing there offices in Pakistan then certainly security concerns are absolutely wrong and so reality is otherwise. I AM not saying it is heaven security wise(as no country is nowadays after 9/11) but Pakistan is certainly as safe as any other country in this world. This is also a view of my forign US managers who are currently working in our Pakistan office. Last but not least, constant increase of forign investment every year in Pakistan is a sufficient fact to figure out, how safe Pakistan is for business.
Look. I don’t wish to get into an argument here. But given that the author has made a case for Pakistan by projecting how bad India is for business, don’t we have a write to prove it otherwise?. None of us would have posted here had the author given an objective analysis of the IT industry in Pakistan, without going into this vis-a-vis India mentality.
The authors points mostly fringe on insanity. He chose to project the looks of an orcl office which probably is one of the many that is out there. Did he take a look at the office of Infosys which a US magazine recently said looks like Hollywood?
http://specials.rediff.com/money/2004/aug/05sld1.htm
It’s great that Pakistan’s PM was the No 3 at Citibank. Clap Clap Clap (Standing Ovation!. But let me add that the NO 1 at Citibank (Just retired) was an Indian.
http://www.nriinternet.com/Section3Who/WhoUSA/Appoontments/VICTOR/Index.htm
Please don’t make any comparison between Pakistan and Israel. They are poles apart. And don’t point a few .com’s to prove your point. We have been there and done that.
Last but not the least, Tony, Please dont make an ass of yourself!
Arpatech Pvt. Ltd: http://www.arpatech.com
As a channel partner of Red Hat, we would like to clarify some of the points Mr. Mitchell is making. With respect to the products not being available, this most likely has to do with Educational Software, because this has been an issue we have had to deal with.
Red Hat has as yet not offered discounted Educational Software to the Pakistani market. I think this is perhaps not even offered in the Indian market. We are working closely with Red Hat to address this issue, and in the near future will have a satisfactory resolution for the Educational sector in Pakistan.
On R&D and Marketing – there too we believe Red Hat is going to make efforts to provide the Pakistani market with investments. We are in discussion with Red Hat at providing local telephony support for the Pakistani market, which will enhance the level of service for local customers of Red Hat products.
ARPATECH Pvt. Ltd.
Most of these ‘haldi-raam’ indians have a Pakistan complex. So I guess kahuna can’t help it. As for the terrorists, I think the RSS, Narindra Modi et all are the biggest terrorists in the region. They roam freely while still being responsible for killing thousands in gujarat massacre, ayodha destruction, golden temple etc. India is just a big communal hell. And now are being caught with nuke puke:
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20041021-113330-3749r.htm
Aha. India is caught with Nuke puke. Huh?
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Did you read last months Time Magazine cover story?..This is how it starts – "Abdul Qadeer Khan stole nuclear designs from the Netherlands, helped Pakistan build a bomb and then created a vast network that traded nuclear secrets and illicit technology across several continents"
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If I were a Pakistani, I would dive into a hole after knowing that the "Father of my bomb" is a THIEF! What a shame!
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[ http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050214/ ]
I AM happy that you wished to avoid the argument but couldn’t help yourself and mentioned that an Indian headed the Citibank. The fact of the matter is that the author has used this fact to make a strong case for Pakistan that a business minded person is taking the decision at the highest level in Pakistan while that Non-Resident Indian was the citibank head but he is not anywhere near that top level of taking decisions for the Indian economy. You should rather be proud that you have an economist as your prime minister.
You and other Indians are most welcome to express your opinions but if you notice the tone of some Indians then one feels that Indians are really taught in some Pakistan bashing schools. We don’t hate you that much. You and other Indians just need to read few articles on Cricinfo.com by the Indian journalists, who wrote extensively about Pakistan during India-Pakistan cricket matches, that how they felt when the visited Pakistan. The terrorism issue is over hyped. We don’t deny it’s not there but it’s restricted and common man is not affected by it. Karachi stock market wouldn’t be AM ong the best performing stock markets of the world if people were afraid of security issues that much. Indian government and companies wouldn’t be willing or anxiously waiting to come and invest in Pakistan and do business with us if that was the case. The foreignt direct investment (FDI) has increased 52% in last seven month. It wouldn’t happen if foreigners were afraid of coming here. On top of that if we were an insecure country India would not have okayed the plan to import gas via Pakistan. 🙂
Indians must learn that they have a lot of problems otherwise they will not be the power they want to be as you cannot be where you want to be unless you know where you are. We Pakistanis realise that we have problems but we are positive about them that they can be resolved.
You should read this article ‘India still has a long way to go’ by Michael Porter. He doesn’t need any introduction as he is THE authority on strategy matters and competitives. http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2004/dec/29inter.htm
I AM AM azed at what most of your indians are concentrating on out there with respect to this article. As I mentioned earlier, you haldi-raams have nothing but a Pakistan complex. You look at everthing thru your narrow indian mind which can’t grasp anything good happening to Pakistan or any of your other neighbours. So you keep on trying to find ways how the author is lying and is just making stuff up.
Well, I got nothing to say for you pathetic "banya" souls but the fact is that we Pakistanis don’t care what you Indians think. We know that we conquered and drove the Indian "banya" to the outskirts of the sub-continent for the better part of some 800 years. We [muslims] made the biggest monuments the world has ever seen in the shape of the Taj Mahal, Lal Qilla (Red Fort) when we expanded our empire from Persia to South East Asia. Those glory days still give us confidence. But you, you haldi-raams will just keep on crying on what Gandhu was killed for, why he gave up "banya" land to the muslims. Well too bad, you can’t do much about nothing but just keep on spreading your indian verbal diarrhoea 🙂
As for this article, thumbs up to Mr. Mitchell. He has invested a great deal of research in this article and that is sincerly appreciated by investors like myself in the Silicon Valley. I think the big plus Pakistan offers in comparison to other countries is its largely untapped english speaking pool for BPO as well as the huge number of CS graduates for development work. The 30% cheaper dev. cost compared to indian companies is also a big factor in favor of Pakistan. With the fundamentals looking good, I think it is only a matter of time Pakistan will be able to make a niche for itself in the Global IT sector.
Israel’s high tech exports are in a matter of fact around $35 billion and that is what I would suppose the author is referring to, not just software but all high tech goods and services. I read this in an article.
I tried searching around the internet, I found a little old data, that of 1996. In 1996, it was $30 bill in total with 80% coming from high-tech, read the article below.
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1999/10/Israel-s+Exports+Underpin+Economic+Growth.htm
Lets make sure that we dont construe facts one way or the other.
Check your facts!
May be u r right but read this first.
Insecurities over Indian outsourcing
Published: April 26, 2005, 12:00 PM PDT
A case of bank fraud involving an India-based outsourcer has rekindled a debate about using overseas contractors for tasks involving sensitive data.
Some say there’s little risk, while others warn of serious hazards, including a threat to America’s national sovereignty.
In the incident, former call center employees of Mphasis are accused of taking part in a theft of $350,000 from U.S. consumers’ bank accounts…….
http://news.com.com/Insecurities+over+Indian+outsourcing/2100-7355_3-5685170.html?tag=nefd.lede
In reply to What a shame … huh ?
Commented above … They roam freely while still being responsible for killing thousands in gujarat massacre, ayodha destruction, golden temple etc. India is just a big communal hell.
this is much bigger thing to be shamed upon !!!
I’m sorry with such indians having no common sense!
Very true. There is no doubt about the fact that India has a long long way to go if it has to reach a comfortable status. Not just Michael Porter, but a host of other Biz gurus have talked about it. So much so Porter has been a frequent visitor to India these days giving speeches on the same.
Let us be honest here. Throughout his series Anthony and the Pak group who is sponsoring his trip has sought to project Pakistans strength by projecting the bad aspects of India. So what do you expect us to do? Of course, we are as ruthless as a businessman as you, so our plan naturally is to counter that strategy. To me it’s just the fun of seeing folks like gujrat2002 going beserk! and aren’t debates fun? 🙂
As for the gas pipe line, the decision has not been made yet i.e India has not yet decided to join the iran-pak pipeline due to security concerns 🙁
To start with, you certainly don’t sound like an "investor" in Silicon Valley. But you sure do sound like a bearded Mullah suffering from hemorrhoids.
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Your Point No 1 – "We know that we conquered and drove the Indian "banya" to the outskirts of the sub-continent for the better part of some 800 years. We [muslims] made the biggest monuments the world has ever seen in the shape of the Taj Mahal, Lal Qilla (Red Fort) when we expanded our empire from Persia to South East Asia"
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My Answer: Muslim nomadic invaders from Afghanistan had invaded India during the early centuries. They had looted the wealth of India and along the process had built some structures. But keep in mind, they destroyed and razed to the ground the splendid architectures of the ancient Indian civilization. Even today you will see some left over from that destruction (Maurya) at Konark, Ajanta etc. The truth is that your culture have no room for tolerance, hence anything and everything other than your own has to be destroyed. Why? Even recently in Afghanistan the Taliban destroyed the world’s largest Buddhist structures at Bamiyan.
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http://www.detnews.com/2002/nation/0203/21/a08-445913.htm
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Don’t be overly confident about your folks invading land from "south east asia to persia". In the ancient times, most nomadic civilizations had made a habit of invading other lands. The Mongols routed the Islamic empire in central asia. {Side note:Atilla Hun and Genghis Khan (Khan just means leader of the clan here, he was not a Muslim) were so brutal to them, that apparently the breasts of their virgin woman were given as delicacies to the Mongol commanders after a victory} So "we muslims" were just another set of barbarians.
The truth is that, India at its height of glory many many centuries ago was a pacifist society focused on the Intellectual/mind/knowledge aspect. Conquering of other lands and invasion was not there on the agenda (May be they should have!)
It is that civilization that provided the world the numerical system as you see today, origin of mathematics, chess and many many more.
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/791087/posts
Excerpts from a highly popular book by Dr. Serge Trifkovic.
The Sword of the Prophet: A Politically-Incorrect Guide to Islam
Buy it at Amazon!
]
[
This is what Bill Clinton said – "Now, I realize to many of you this comes as no surprise, since the decimal system was discovered — invented in India. If it weren’t for India’s contributions in math and science, you could argue that computers, satellites and silicon chips would never have been possible in the first place, so you (India) ought to have a leading role in the 21st century economy"
http://www.rediff.com/us/2000/apr/08us3.htm
]
So the bottom line is that our priorities were different. Does not mean that we were better or you were bad. It just means that maybe you should not be that proud of driving "banya from their land" (your choice of words – maybe this is the secularism that Anthony was talking about, and the great educational system in Pakistan?). Let me also add that if there is a chance in the world today for a Muslim to be the President/Prime Minister of a potentially powerful nation, it’s only India!
If you are still proud that "we muslims" drove "banyas" and if you are still living in those glory days, maybe you should frame this picture and hang it in your wall. That should bring you down to Mother Earth once in a while,
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http://www.hindu.com/th125/gallery/thim008.htm
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PS – For the time being, try Preparation H.
and by the way, we have started our conquest too, 😉
http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2004/10/31/ccmitt31.xml
I like Muslims, but not your type. Like the ones found in India, Turkey etc.
Thank you for understanding my point of view about India through the article of Michael Porter. You accept what he says because he visited India but Indians have a problem, generally speaking, taking the fact on board that India have higher taxes which Tony has mentioned. It is just a direct comparison between two companies. I like the way when Indo-Pak people talk in their "desi" (local) English because I AM proud of it but if Americans, Mr Mitchell or above all your CLIENT doesn’t like it then just accept it that it is a fact and don’t go about beating the bush.
Pakistanis maybe sponsoring Mr Mitchell as I don’t know it but wouldn’t they send him to India to "projecting the bad aspects of India". He has been involved with Indian IT Industry since 1987 so he is good if he good things about India but devil when saying something that goes against India? What kind of mentality is that? Calling names and spreading information is not a "strategy" but rather a lack of self confidence on behalf of Indians.
I don’t believe in who started the argument as it doesn’t take you anywhere but if you were fair then you would realise that gujrat2000 replied to someone’s reply who is saying something completely baseless against his/her country. If everything is so hunky dory in India then Indians should emphasise that rather than to malign Pakistan.
As for Indian pipeline is concerned you should think above the petty issues like since there has not been any signature on the dotted line then it means there is no decision yet but the truth is that Indian cabinet or parliament has okayed the plans to get gas from Iran or Turmenistan THROUGH Pakistan as it Iranian option is the cheapest of them all. Indians will be daft not to get this gas from Iran through Pakistan as no businessman would go for an expensive option while the security issues are almost the same considering gas will have to come through either Bangladesh or Pakistan. Read this http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=41837#compstory
this story appeared sometime back in the entire Indian media … now what do u say Mr Music??
http://www.indiadaily.com/breaking_news/25602.asp
then this
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1023507.cms
Now appears the real story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4283733.stm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1030100.cms
very funny indeed but just a display of media power that highlights how good Indian media is at manipulating things as they wish. Authenticity is far more important than baseless news all covered with flowery words.
I really don’t know what you are trying to blabber here! The entire purpose of a goddamn discussion thread to critique an article. So why do you get so defensive about me raising counter points to the ones Tony mentioned.? As for my "CLIENTS", I don’t have any, Maybe when I get into my 30’s I will a few of them. If it is "a direct comparison between 2 countries/companies", my response here (in this forum) attempts to debunk that erroneous comparison.
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These are Mitchell’s points that I wanted to counter,
1. However, the relatively open and trusting nature of Pakistanis has made them easy prey for Indian business brokers who have managed to cheat several Pakistani IT firms by offering to provide them with outsourcing contracts in exchange for up-front fees. The Pakistanis assumed that these Indians were open minded and charitable for coming to help less experienced firms in Pakistan gain access to international contracts, until the Indians took their money and disappeared.
2. Once you have lived through a few riots in India, once you have taught yourself how to quickly turn the lights out and lay down on the floor because you are afraid of what might come through the window, then Pakistan doesn’t seem so scary anymore.
3. Staying in a rundown colonial-era mansion in downtown Kolkata a few years ago, I was surprised to find that an old horse stable on the property had been turned into an Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) Latest News about Oracle service center. It still looked like a stable. Inside the dimly lit room were rows of tiny monochrome monitors, manned by quiet workers, mostly women. "Can you find us any Oracle work?" asked the mansion’s owner. "Can you find these people bigger monitors?" should have been my reply, "and a proper restroom?" Here in Karachi, everything has been on the up and up, so far.
4. Pakistani IT firms have been quietly doing work for international clients such as Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) Latest News about Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Fry’s Electronics while those clients’ slower competitors follow the herd into Pakistan’s neighbor. (Ha ha ha ha)
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Not that I’m offended by any of these, but I WOULD like to counter them, just for the heck of it. It has nothing to do with our "lack of self-confidence". Dude, we have gotten this far by clearly understanding what our strengths are and what we lack.
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Now back the spirit of debating.
1. Oil Pipe line.
India is working out a series of deals in the energy arena, with Iran, Russia (Yukos assets), Myanmar (through Bangladesh), sudan, Angola, Libya, Turkmenistan and Pakistan (as a transit nation). What I AM trying to say is that a whole series of energy deals are being worked out, multiple options of delivery are being looked at, and of course since Pakistan is a bordering land it has a stake here. The truth is that this pipeline has dragged so far (still not done yet) precisely due to the security aspect. i.e the security aspect is the biggest variable in that discussion.
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http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/01/11/pakistan.attacks/
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Please allow me to use Peter Drucker ("The father of modern management")
http://blogger.iftf.org/Future/000304.html
So there are Drucker’s and Porter’s and other gurus who have their own views. Porter these days is a much sought after speaking consultant in India. Does that tell you anything?
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Didn’t know that Pakis can’t stomach some hard response that come their way! But then it’s all a show isn’t it?
I don’t see anything wrong with any of the points raised by Tony. Anyhow, if you want to aruge just for the heck of it then you are most welcome 🙂
As for CNN news is concerned about Pakistan security I would just mention that they used to think Karachi was capital of Pakistan till mid 90’s. So, again, I must emphasise that security issues are over highlighted especially in Pakistan. I live abroad and sometime feel unsafe when I hear the stories but once I AM there it is all happy life.
Thanks! But I can’t believe that you don’t see anything wrong with the points Tony raised!! But then, he raised it on your behalf isn’t it? If you really think (as Tony said) that your IT industry is in disarray because our folks ran away with your money, then trust me, that is not good at all for the indo-pak peace process.
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Ok, now. This is what Mani Aiyar (India’s Petroleum Minister) said,
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"Security of gas supplies through Pakistan territory is a major concern in the development of Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project," Aiyar said.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=7773518&type=topNews
]
Not that I’m trying to put Pakiland down, but just trying to point the facts about the ‘petro/gas’ to you!
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As somebody said in a post here, this thread is not contributing to any intellectually intensive discussion. So I’ve decided to raise a white flag and gallop away.
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PS – But as a parting shot I do have to say that based on his writing style/ Analysis style, I’m more inclined to believe that Anthony Mitchell got his degree from the non-accredited & defunct Hanuman college in Bihar, not Rutgers.
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Khuda Afiz!
It is fine when you disagree with whatever he is saying but some Indians would rather go and call him names (You should check some other articles and read some responses by my Indian friends). Can you achieve something by belittling anyone’s educational qualification. Just say I don’t agree with this point because I have this proof. Finish!!!!
Indian Petroleum Minister talking about Pakistani security issue is analogous to Greenpeace member talking "favourably" about Oil companies. I hope you will understand.
Take Care and it was nice exchanging views with you rather than some idiots.
Hey I AM fom Pakistan Karachi studying in I.T currently working on My Final Project i.e Robotic Asia ……. only one will be selected ……just pray for me ……… Living in karachi is a pride to me with its socially bounded society and ties yes its always and will remain my heaven ………….. bye
This guy is a shill for Musharraf
CIA and the FBI are also searching hard for IT in Karachi – Islamic Terrorism, and they have found every IT expert there can be, including top Al Qaida figures.
Keep searching Anthony, until it blows up 🙂
Before any of you Pakistani Basher start ruining this article I say to them that I know India is Super Great, better than China, Pakistan and even better than America. You are a mahaan country with mahaan people so let us pakiz do the discussion here. I would request the Pakistani readers to ignore them and discuss the article and avoid a wrestling.
I really liked the point of view of Tony on international companies trying to market Pakistan through India, South Africa or elsewhere because Pakistan itself has a lot of increasing market and with completely "hungry for product" countries like Afghanistan, and Central Asian Countries are next to us. On top of that the middle eastern market should be marketed from Pakistan as these companies can utilise the potential work force with good incentives from the Government. In doing that these companies will cater for the requiremnts of the Pakistani market rather than targeting it from a third country with totally different mindset. We are happy to have India as our neighbour but we don’t like to an email address with [email protected] in it as we are a proud Pakistanis.