British HC wants his country to become top investor in Pakistan

British High Commissioner to Pakistan Adam Thomson said on Friday that he wants to see his country as the “number one” investor in Pakistan, where 100 British companies are already in business and making good profits.
He was speaking at the launch of a leading UK beauty care retailer Crabtree & Evelyn’s first store in Pakistan in a posh area of Karachi.
“I can’t see any reason why Britain’s foreign direct investment (FDI) should not grow in Pakistan. Over 100 UK companies are operating in Pakistan in different fields including, consumer items, pharmaceuticals, banking and energy,” he observed.
The British envoy pointed out that UK companies are making good profits on their investment in Pakistan. This market has a tremendous potential for UK brands.
“Pakistan is a wonderful, viable and flourishiing economy and British companies wanted to invest here,” he noted.
He said that Pakistani market has a lot of potential to be primary target for all British brands as this is relatively an untapped market.
He said Crabtree & Evelyn has over 500 outlets in the world and it will certainly benefit Pakistani consumers.
“The opening of this factory outlet represents further progress towards our goal of increasing the existing trade volume of 1.9 billion sterling between the two countries to 2.5 billion sterling by 2015,” he added.
Cosmo Group Director Fauod Sayeed said that his company is committed to bring in top of the line international products to Pakistani market.
Aswad Zuberi said that Crabtree & Evelyn is the leader in US and UK markets.
Earlier, British Envoy formally inaugurated the outlet in the presence of top models and leading personalities from fashion world.
Shell Tameer Awards: Speaking at the Shell Tameer Awards-2012 ceremony on Friday, British High Commissioner Adam Thomson said developing entrepreneurship is an essential ingredient for achieving the United Nation’s millennium development goal of reducing poverty.
“Sound macroeconomic policies and providing market access are crucial to economic development. Pakistan needs to nurture and develop entrepreneurs particularly with better access to education for its youth for becoming able to take advantage of opportunities created by globalization,” he added.
He said that new generation in Pakistan will be very decisive. It will demand a big investment in them and full support from the government and the society to make the best use of them.
“Many British companies including the Shell Limited are doing very good business with significant expansion and high profits. These companies were encouraging entrepreneurs here,” he noted.
The British Council and the Shell Pakistan Limited are working together for promotion of entrepreneurship in Pakistan.
Based on the decisions of panel of judges, Adam Thomson presented the Shell Tameer Awards to four winners – the first prize went to Gulraiz Khan of Samovar Tea and Coffee Shop in Karachi, second prize to Neelma Shah of Echo Customized Clothing and Accessories from Peshawar, and third to Shahzeb Saeed of Shahzab Saeed Menswear in Karachi. The fourth prize was the Social Enterprise prize which went to Salma Raheem from Zardozi Dera Jutta in recognition of her outstanding achievements.
Sarim Sheikh, country chairman for the Shell Pakistan Limited congratulated the ten finalist entrepreneurs, who were chosen from 1,000 applicants from across Pakistan.
He said that the insecurity among people that comes from unemployment is something that tears our social fabric. A strong entrepreneurial culture is the foundation of a dynamic economy, developing this culture will lead Pakistan to right direction.
Since the inception of the Shell Tameer in 2003, it has developed entrepreneurial skills in young people across Pakistan aged 18 to 32 years. It encourages them to start a business as a viable career option by providing free information, counselling, support and training. So far 75,000 thousand young people have been engaged by Tameer through 112 workshops and 127 seminars nationwide.
“Tameer’s efforts have resulted in 1,000 new start-ups, providing employment to over 22,500 people.
At the awards, Afshan Khan, the social investment manager at the Shell
Pakistan said entrepreneurs are not created but they are born. “All you have to do is to identify that spark, nurture and build it. This is what Shell Tameer has been doing for almost a last decade,” she said.
“In the longer-term, we need to build a strong and lasting culture of entrepreneurship. This must be done through the formal education system. It should be started at an early age in primary school right to university level where even PhD courses will eventually be offered in entrepreneurship. It has already been done in some countries,” she added.
Prior to the Award Ceremony, a number of professionals from the corporate and industrial sectors, distinguished faculty from schools and universities , innovative entrepreneurs and members of media visited an exhibition where the 10 finalists were showcasing their businesses at the Shell House.