Trade, can it Herald Peace?

Gazi Urstruely is shaking in his boots fearing bania terrorism from ambani and tata. He can deal with the daalkhor khatri army, but the mere thought of trade and bussiness makes him feel faint. Some bad collective memories from pre-partition days? Come on, let it out. Dont hold back anything (specially the slurs and stereotypes).

Its bad enough having to work in Gary Indiana, or Pontiac Michigan, imagine being forced to work in Detroit of the east ..idli sambhar for breakfast! (Something apropriate in arabic at this point to express disgust).

#35

... And if there was trade with India he could have continued to sell in the Indian market. Or he could move his business to India (or atleast threaten to do so).

... Just imagine venture capital from Hero in Ludhiana, components from Gurjaon, design offices in karachi, plants in Ludhiana and Lahore ...

ahmedzai #37 thanks. on propaganda, money speaks louder than words. businessmen thrive in times of peace. and no amount of propaganda can fool anyone anyway. thus 50 years of anti-Pakistan propaganda (and anti-India propaganda this side of the border) was forgotten in the last cricket series.

Tauheed at # 34:

You have excellent points in the favor of free trade. However, my concerns remain psychological barriers created by Indian propaganda against Pakistan and Muslims.

ankit

You are only proving Ahmadzai`s point. Now please explain to me how can we do business witha nation who is brainwashed into beleiving that Pakistani education system teaches k for kafir and j for jehad?

Bongdong

There are several examples but there is one that has effected me personally very much. In late 80`s and early 90s a Pakistani engineer developed the design and prototypes of all Pak-made motor vehicle - a pick up truck to be exact. By 1990 he started the full scale production of those vehicles. I cannot remember that gentleman`s name or the name by which he marketed his truck at this moment. I was a student at that time and met him personally a couple of times in regards to my research thesis and had detailed discussion on how designed his vehicle etc. Since, it was such an enviable accomplishmment of the resolve of one man, I got emotionally attached to his endeavor and started following his progress. The market price of those vehicles was half that of equivalent suzuki pick-up but gave more horse-power and torque than suzuki. Then a time came that his vehicles were seen often on the streets of Karachi and by the time the first gulf war started his orders reached to Rs. 160 Millions - quite a substantial amount of money at that time. The gulf war coincided with the Pressler amendment and sanctions were imposed on Pakistan for no obvious reason by US - as they usually do with their allies after they have gotten what they wanted. The war and Pressler amendments caused to devastating effects on the economy. The fuel prices sky-rocketted and value of rupee declined sharply. Before war and Pressler the exchange rate was Rs. 11 for a dollar and during and after war it went down to Rs. 26-30 per dollar. Meanwhile Japanese put extreme pressure on Pak government to reduce import duty on its vehicles and also on its local made ones in exchange for financial aid. Not Pakistan, but its rulers were cash strapped and were feeling dry after decade of gobbling up American aid. So they bowed down. The GOP bowed down to japanese pressure which resulted in sharp decrease in the price of diesel powered trucks. In some case the reduction was upto Rs. 200K per vehicle. Pakistan`s first Henry Ford, who started his endeavor with his life savings could not compete with these conditions and a time reached that he went bankrupt. Thus our own government killed our very own henry Ford due to its cowardice, shortsightedness, and greed.

here are my arguments of the benefits to pakistan from free trade in the subcontinent:

1. marketsize: the indian consumer class (roughly defined to mean those who can afford electrical appliances, motorized transport) is i think between 130 million to 150 million. In pakistan, the number is considered to be around 20-30 million. Thus, if a pakistani industry can break into even 10 percent of the indian market, it would have doubled its revenue.

2. globalization: with india emerging as the service center to the world (no kidding!), pakistan gets strategic benefits from joining the bandwagon. trade in services is generally underreported under current accounting systems (even in countries like the US), and its actual impact is far greater than the numbers indicate.

3. economic theory and history: while not getting into specifics, the fact is that there is overwhelming evidence in favor of free trade from economic theory and history. benefits include lower prices (and therefore improved standard of living) for consumers, faster increase in gdp.

4. peace and cultural balance: when nations are trading, the cost of political confrontation is increased. so they dont start finding territorial disputes and other reasons to create tensions. also, mullahs will now have to compete with bollywood actresses for attention.

19 ahmadzai

sorry, but we have not through your kind of j for jehad and k for kafir education. so the daal eating hindu bania shall be willing to trade if he makes money and live a better life.

ps. we did go through a t for terrorist.

pps. anyone willing to contribute to the paki illustration of alphabets will be most welcome. i hit upon h for hoori a few moments ago.

``lessons have been adequately learned. Only if powers that be can keep those lessons in mind while deciding our fate.``

could you elaborate (with examples if possible), which Pakistani industry was wiped out by imports?

bongdong # 25

We are at least 25 years ahead of you in this regard. lessons have been adequately learned. Only if powers that be can keep those lessons in mind while deciding our fate.

Ahmadzai # 19

Excellent point. I am also of the opinion that it will be next to impossible to sell our products and services to a nation whose midset has been influenced by decades of well-organized anti-Muslim hatred and propaganda by their government and liberal media all alike. In addition, I don`t think they are as keen to buy as they are to sell.

#24
``Do Tatas already own Daewoo``?

Only the truck business, not all of Daewoo :-)

``Tata Motors Limited, India, announced, today, that it had completed the acquisition of Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company Limited (DWCV), Korea``

http://www.tata.com/tata_engg/releases/20040329.htm

#19
``No matter what, Indians will not buy Pakistani products till such time their pre-conceived notions and perceptions about Pakistanis are adequately addressed and reversed towards reality``

So your argument is that the Mumbai housewife will explore the political ramifications of buying ``Shan`` biryani masala over ``Everest``, before maing her choice?

#18 Urstruly

India went through 40+ years of government telling people what they can manufacture and what they cannot. What they can import and what they cannot.

learn from our experience ....

#23

yeah we loose/gain one Karachi stockmarket a day and dont even break a sweat.