Profit Issue 03

WELCOME

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE aving worked in the newspaper industry for numerous years, the classified ads category has frequently caught my attention for its dynamics have intrigued me on various fronts. Classified ads are brief advertisements listed by individuals for a few hundred rupees. Interestingly enough, they represent the most demanding client base for newspapers to be able to deal with since the response from these placed ads is easily measurable. They expect to receive at least 10-20 phone calls and a few visits by potential buyers for the ad that has been placed. From the newspapers’ point of view this makes it a classic case of chicken and egg situation. If the newspaper is able to attract these classified ads but does not receive the required response, new ads may be difficult to come by in the future hence attracting little buyer attention. Therefore, response factor for the newspaper deteriorates over time.

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Jang and Dawn had successfully managed to break this situation very early on. However, technology continues to offer a potential threat to print media and it may not be possible to stay complacent. Luckily, newspapers in Pakistan could anticipate the fast emerging role of technology and adapt their model accordingly. All that was required was to take a look across the border where classified portals had disrupted the print industry in early 2000’s and prepare ac-

cordingly. It may be acceptable that the print industry of Pakistan may not have been proactive but a response time of ten odd years is difficult to justify. In our cover story, Monis Rehman of Rozee states that he approached Dawn personally for a JV some eight years ago. Monis wasn't alone. In fact, some two years before Monis I also contacted Hameed Haroon, the CEO of Dawn to develop a customized job portal for them. At that time I was running a job portal under a digital company. He showed interest over the phone but never responded to the emailed proposal. For the same portal I received an acquisition offer from Jang group in 2010.

The deal was finalised and even announced within the Jang group. But later it fizzled out for no apparent reason. Perhaps getting it digitally correct has to do with the age factor.

Dawn’s CEO - for whom I have a lot of personal affectionis from an older generation; the generation that holds its apprehensions against technology. Believe it or not he is still not on Whatsapp!

In this issue's cover story we speak to different stakeholders in the industry to examine whether Jang and Dawn still hold a chance to recapture the ground lost to the technology companies.

This and much more in the pages that follow.

Babar Nizami

Publishing Editor: Arif Nizami l Managing Editor: Babar Nizami l Joint Editor: Yousaf Nizami l Asst. Business Editor: Aroosa Shaukat Editor Reporting: Farooq Baloch l Reporters Karachi: Aisha Arshad l Nida Jaffery l Arshad Hussain and Usman Hanif Reporters Lahore: Syeda Masooma l Abbas Naqvi and Hassaan Ahmed l Reporters Islamabad: Amir Sial l Ahmed Ahmedani Director Marketing: Zahid Ali l Regional Heads of Marketing: Muddasir Alam (Khi) l Zulfiqar Butt (Lhr) l Mudassir Iqbal (Isl) Design & Layout: Rizwan Ahmad l Illustrator: ZEB l Photographers: Murtaza Ali & Imran Gillani Contact: profit@pakistantoday.com.pk

FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR

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8 Weekly Roundup 12 Only the fittest survive 17 Coping with the ‘overvalued’ exchange rate dilemma Aadil Nakhoda

18 18 Too Little, Too late 26 Fazal Din & Sons offering ‘Sehat’ 34 Going green: of niche ‘Organic’ markets

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37 Is Pulao ‘Biryani enough’ to rule?

40 Take a break, book a hotel 44 Talking Heads

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46 46 A World of Tomorrow Conference by the Beaconhouse Group 48 FinTech Disrupt Challenge 2016

by Karandaaz Pakistan and Lums Center for Entrepreneurship 50 Are we an insecure lot? Sadyia Babar CONTENTS

"Our foreign reserves with $ 24 billion are the highest in the history of Pakistan.

This economic take off has changed the perception of the world about Pakistan"

QUOTE

BRIEFING

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal

“The government is well aware of requirements of industrial and domestic sectors and is taking every possible measure to meet the gas needs of these sectors�

Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

CPEC to bring investment Chairman Board of Investment Dr. Miftah Ismail has said that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would promote economic integration and regional connectivity for development and prosperity in the region. After the completion of CPEC, he said $ 150 billion investment would be brought by Chinese investors in Pakistan."All the provinces and regions have shared opportunity for infrastructural development and industrial growth which provides employment opportunities and prosperity in the country," he added.

Japanese investors eye Pakistan Japan External Trade Organiz a t i o n (JETRO) Country Director Osamu Hisaki has said that Pakistan was on the top among 20 Asian countries for Japanese investors. Hisaki has said that Pakistan was a populated country and there was great potential for business. JETRO conducted a survey recently, in which 76.7% respondents replied that they intended to expand their business in Pakistan.

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PSO fined for deception A Rs 15 crores penalty has been imposed on Pakistan State Oil (PSO) by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) for allegedly running a deceptive marketing campaign for its products namely "Premier XL" petrol and "Green Plus" diesel. CCP conducted an inquiry after receiving a complaint wherein it was alleged that since 2003, PSO has been deceptively claiming that the use of its products results in more mileage and improved performance

BRIEFING

MCB and NIB merger MCB Bank and NIB Bank announced their merger last week to operate as a single entity, as the Singapore-based majority shareholders of NIB have agreed to acquire one share of MCB in exchange of every 140 shares held by them.

QUOTE

“Italy is a big traditional market and could offer a lot of opportunities for Pakistani merchandise.

The MoU between trade organisations of the two countries will help Pakistan’s valueadded garment manufacturers” countries."

Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association Central Chairman Ijaz Khokhar

"Pakistan has become a very lucrative destination for investors from all over the world especially after the launch of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)” Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif

Pakistan heading to PITEX A 54-member Pakistani delegation will take part in the 11th edition of the Punjab International Trade Expo (PITEX) in Amritsar along with participants of other SAARC countries. According to the Progress Harmony Development (PHD) chamber Regional Director Dr. Parveen Rathee, 54 Pakistani traders have confirmed their participation.

PR sells e-tickets

Trade with France

8,500 e-tickets worth Rs 1 crore have been sold by the Pakistan Railways to passengers through different means including credit cards and mobile accounts. Since the inauguration of e-ticketing system in the department two months ago, the PR sold tickets through credit cards, UBL Omni and mobile accounts.

Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan is keen to increase bilateral trade with France. Dar has said that French investors have desired to invest in Pakistan in different sectors to avail various opportunities.

He said cooperation between the two countries has been done on different programs including finance, energy, efficiency and hydropower project.

Careem introduces women drivers 7 women drivers have been introduced by Careem, a taxi-hailing service, in Pakistan. Seven women drivers had qualified to join the fleet and the company hoped more would apply. Of the seven women inducted, two belong to Karachi, three to Lahore and one to Islamabad.

BRIEFING

BRIEFING

SME borrowing Rs 2,740 crores were borrowed by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from commercial banks in the quarter that ended on September 30, 2016. In its quarterly performance review of the banking sector, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said SME financing picked up 9.2% during the July-September quarter.

QUOTE

"The CPEC is a long-term project and we should evaluate everything on the scientific lines for its efficient implementation" Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong

Energy conservation 13 industrial units selected from the automotive and foundry sector have been enabled by an energy efficiency management project (EEMP) of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This will ensure a conservation of 866,00-KWh energy per annum valuing about Rs 1 crore.

Kinnow exports Indonesia has doubled Pakistan’s Kinnow import season from January to April after review of Preferential Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries. Import of Kinnow from Pakistan was restricted to the months of February and March. This is being attributed to the success of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

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Lucky Cement joint venture with KIA Motors Pakistan’s largest cement manufacturer, Lucky Cement, has decided to set up an associated company to assume manufacturing, assembling, marketing, distribution, sale, aftersales service, import and export of all types of Kia Motor Corporation in Pakistan. Lucky Cement has allocated a proposed equity investment of up to Rs 1, 200 crores, divided into 1,200 million shares (Rs 10 per share)amsi

Wheat exports

Sugarcane payments

100% increase of wheat exports was registered during the first four months of the current fiscal year as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year. During the period from July-October, 2016, about 566 metric ton of wheat worth $0.182 million were exported as compared to the exports of same period of last year.

Rs 24, 000 crores were paid to sugarcane growers in 2015 by the sugar industry. This was stated by Chairman Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) Javed Kayani who said that sugarcane payments were being cleared on time. Kayani requested the Federal Government to immediately allow export of sugar so that sugar industry could make the payments continuously.

BRIEFING

TEXTILE

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The Corporate Titaness NISHAT LINEN’S NAZ MANSHA SAYS THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO PLAY ITS ROLE IN THE RETAIL INDUSTRY AND OFFER GREATER INCENTIVES

By Syeda Masooma s you pass through quality check at the Nishat Linen factory there is little that can prepare one for the gush of creativity that lies down two flights of stairs. Buzzing with energy that comes naturally to a place where a fleet of designers are enthusiastically consumed in work, a vast hall welcomes you to the behind-the-scenes of the fashion apparel industry.

All the usual suspects imagined to be part of such a scheme, from fashion magazines, sketch pencils, stencils to a variety of fabric – velvet, silk, chiffon and cotton, are seen clumsily lying around. The twinkling of beaded fabric hanging from nearby shelves adds to the magnificence of the environment. Crossing one hall into another, we finally found ourselves standing outside the door of the woman behind the brand that calls itself the ‘fabric of Pakistan’.

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Soon we were seated across Naz Mansha – owner and CEO of Nishat Linen, in a bid to quench our inquisitiveness about the brand and the industry at large. “I don’t want to boast. But our product is superior to every other brand,” she states in a matter-of-fact tone.

An independent entity under the umbrella of Nishat Mills, Nishat Linen was set up in 1989 as a home furnishing brand producing bed sheets for export purposes.

It was not until 1992 that the brand diversified into an apparel brand, also opening a showroom for sales in Pakistan. Almost three decades down the road, Nishat Linen has more than 100 outlets across the country and has managed to penetrate the Middle Eastern and the North American markets.

Despite continued rise in competition, NL has been able to not only survive the challenges in the market but has managed to carve out an identity for itself.

This, Naz Mansha attributes to higher quality of their brand. And with new brands hitting the market every now and then, that is a heavy claim to standby. The confidence comes with NL acquiring raw material – textiles, from Nishat Mills.

“This way we have the assurance that our product is of best quality from start to end.”

While NL buys cloth from Nishat Mills at market price, Mansha explains the

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brand is not entitled to any monetary favors. “We are like any other customer to the mills and we do not get any discounts because that business has to prove its profitability as well. So they do not give us any favors,” says the CEO of NL. With every member of the family, including her sons and daughter-in-laws heading a different project, while the group is a family business, she believes the only benefit they reap from the situation is in the decision making process. “It makes things easier because while everyone knows a lot about their own business, they have an

idea about others’ too. So business discussion is healthy and beneficial every time it takes place but does not provide any monetary advantage,” she clarifies.

A factor that Mansha views as an extra edge that NL enjoys over its competitors is the buying choice given to customers. “All other brands only sell complete suits. They do not let customers pick and choose,” says Mansha. With customers also wanting to buy different clothlength based on what they want to do with the fabric NL offers that convenience.

“Gone are the days of the traditional shal-

war kameez dupatta. Now many girls just want to buy a kurta which they can wear with a pair of jeans.”

But that convenience means more leftover fabric. Does that equate to wastage for the brand?

At the end of every season, clothing brands come up with sales to clear that season’s stock. For NL it is those leftovers that make it to their sale offers. “Our sales do not have low quality stock or anything less than our usual products. The products that are leftover are then displayed during discounted sale offers.” However, the businesswoman shares that she is not a big fan of sales, and perhaps no brand is.

Mansha explains that with sales only being possible after giving up on the premium, prices have to be lowered to increase sales. For brands it means more revenues but with lesser profits, she adds.

“It might appear that discount offers bring in more customers. But regular sales are always more than discount sales,” she explains. For Nishat Linen, approximately 70 per cent of its total revenues come from its regular-priced sales. And according to the CEO of NL the trend is same for other brands in the market.

With new brands springing up so often, the market has become competitive.

Mansha believes only the fittest can survive. “Focus on quality from start to end that is the only factor that can allow a brand to survive in such high competition.” With names like Khaadi, Sapphire, as well as some of the other established brands including Alkaram and Gul Ahmed, performing well in the market Mansha says brands need to be kept on their toes to bring out their best products.

Despite such apparent competitiveness, NL seems to be enjoying its position as one of the market leaders. It operates in more than 50 cities and has manufacturing units in five. As for revenues, Karachi and Lahore seem to be the biggest contributors with approximately 30 per cent of sales coming from each city. Islamabad and Hyderabad are other metropolitan cities that list high for NL sales. And to top it off their outlets are not restricted to large cities. Outlets in Lalamusa, Bhurewala, Rahim Yar Khan, Jhelum and many other smaller cities are notable in terms of revenues, busting the popular assumption to the contrary.

“FOCUS ON QUALITY FROM START TO END THAT IS THE ONLY FACTOR THAT CAN ALLOW A BRAND TO SURVIVE IN SUCH HIGH COMPETITION” Nishat Linen is also operating overseas in the Middle East and America. Around 30 per cent of its total revenues are generated from exports. Naz Mansha says with the brand having a global exposure it also has to follow a calendar that marks global festivals in line with traditions of countries their outlets are in. So while there are occasions of Eid and the Independence Day – August 14 in Pakistan, there is Diwali, Nauroz and July 4 for its outlets in foreign countries.

With television and social media being used for advertising, Mansha believes brand outreach has become easier even in smaller cities. “Women buy our products. They see it on TV or social media or the younger generation talk about the new collection with their mothers…and it all leads to actual buying.” But while social media has become a major tool in modern advertisements she says conventional means still maintain their place. “Some people still need to see the billboards and magazines. Many people are using social media but a majority is still not tech savvy. So we have to use a mix of old and new means to properly communicate our brand and products.” A testament of which is a large billboard prominently displayed at the Cavalry ground intersection advertising the brand’s latest collection.

As for pricing their products Mansha says the company has around 80 per cent margin on the cost price of the products to arrive at sale price and that is done in consideration of the overheads – and that list is long. “Electricity and salaries cost a lot,” she says while recording social security and old age benefits for their employees as other strains on their expense.

Nishat Mills has its own power generation system which NL also gets to use.

But that Mansha clarifies is only for backup and not the primary power source.

“Those systems are not designed to run continuously,” she adds while explaining that the brand has to rely on the main power supply. “And at times when those systems work as generators, we need diesel or gas to run them. That, too, is among our major expenditures.”

Overheads and especially taxes, she says, have a major pressure on the company’s costs. “We pay taxes on every sin-

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gle thing. It doesn’t drain us, but it is a huge expense nevertheless,” she adds.

Claiming that many other known brands, which she consciously does not name, are evading taxes Mansha expresses frustration over the lack of accountability – something that she feels is downright unfair. “This is not only limited to clothing brands…almost all businesses have some names that are taking home the margins which are actually going out of the pockets of tax-paying businesses.”

A strong advocate of paying taxes NL’s chief says they simply do not do

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“PAKISTAN IS NOT PRODUCING MANY VALUE-ADDED GOODS AND THE REASON IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF POTENTIAL BUT THE ABSENCE OF OPPORTUNITY” business with anyone who is not tax registered. “Even the sellers of beads have to have a tax registration number to work with us. We are paying money but if there is no record of where it is going then that is a problem for us.” She stressed that NL and even the entire Nishat Mills group has to make sure that they do not do anything which blemishes their reputation. “This is something that my husband (Mian Muhammad Mansha) has ingrained in all of us – not to run overboard, not to do anything which is not transparent.”

In the larger scheme of things, she believes the industry needs to be incentivized more by the government. “Pakistan is not producing many value-added goods and the reason is not the absence of poten-

tial but the absence of opportunity,” she explains.

With the government playing no role in the retail industry, causing Pakistan to lose out on its potential, Mansha also cites the example of Bangladesh where its government has signed agreements with the US which both prefers and promotes Bangladeshi products. “I am not saying that the government should hand it over free to the industry. But a special tariff or some concession on the expenditure side would motivate entrepreneurs to further invest and produce value-added goods.”

And for all the challenges that Nishat Linen has had to face over the years there is a deep sense of loyalty to the brand she so lovingly nurtured. “If someone gifts me a dress from another brand, I happily accept and even wear it too,” she says lightheartedly “but on my own I am loyal to my own brand.”

As for the future, Mansha believes the brand will grow as opportunities arise much like the journey that began from a single workshop that produced bed linen to now, having expanded into an international apparel chain. “That happened with time. Same trajectory is on the cards for the future and we will grow Nishat Linen as the possibilities arise.”

RETAIL

OPINION

Aadil Nakhoda

sumers are likely to prefer the imported varieties and the exporters face a fall in their competitiveness against foreign competitors.

The stability of the currency may be measured by the spread between the interbank foreign exchange rate and the open market foreign exchange rate for the US Dollar. This spread is likely when the interbank exchange rate is not allowed to adjust to the changes in demand and supply of US Dollars in the Pakistani foreign currency market. As almost all major currencies have deprexchange rate management is considered as one of ciated against the US Dollar recently, the resistance of the the most critical aspects of economic policymakgovernment to depreciate the Pakistani rupee is likely to result in ing, particularly in countries that are vulnerable to the rupee becoming more vulnerable to unpredictability in the exbalance of payment crises. An overvalued exchange rate. The overvalued exchange rate may be counterprochange rate tends to limit the growth of exports as ductive for exporters who earn thin profit margins. The domestically produced goods become uncompetigovernment must promote exports in industries that are less sentive relative to foreign goods. An overvalued exsitive to price changes. Currently, the exports from Pakistan are change rate also results in an increase in primarily limited to agricultural commodities, textiles and leather, dependence on imports and widens the trade and food products. Unfortunately, the global prices of such proddeficit. The lack of industrialization within Pakistan has limited the deucts have witnessed a downward trend in the past couple of velopment of local inputs that can compete in either quality or cost effiyears. Therefore, as prices tend to fall, the margins of exporters ciency against foreign inputs. Therefore, prudent exchange rate shrink. This is reflected in the widening of the trade deficit. management along with good industrial policies are necessary to reduce Although, the lowering of oil prices has shifted the import comthe trade deficit. position towards capital goods, any improvement in productivity The State Bank of Pakistan reported the real effective exchange rate levels of local manufacturers is not being reflected in the growth (REER) for the Pakistani rupee (base year = 2010), in October 2016 to rate of exports. Additionally, the trade deficit worsens when imbeat 124. The month-to-month change in October 2016 was 1.74%, ported inputs are consumed domestically rather than converted to which was the highest since January 2015. The REER is the weighted exportable products. A higher REER may substitute away from average, adjusted for inflation of the domestic currency relative to the domestically produced inputs towards foreign inputs. currency of major trading partners. A higher REER suggests that domesAn overvalued exchange rate increases the value of domestic astically produced goods are likely to be expensive relative to foreign sets vis-à-vis foreign currencies. The value of domestic assets in goods. The increasing REER widens the trade deficit as Pakistani condollar terms owned by firms within Pakistan will likely be inflated. Similarly, it may benefit firms who seek to expand their business to newer markets as it dampens the fixed and sunk costs associated with business expansion in foreign trading partners. However, in order for such investAadil Nakhoda ments to be successful, viable trade and industrial policies must be pursued to promote export is an assistant professor at growth. The government must ensure that the barriers to trade faced by exporters are reduced. Acthe Institute of Business Administration, Karachi and a cess to export markets must be enhanced by strengthening the trade missions abroad. It is crucial research fellow at the Centre that Pakistan develops a strategy to diversify the range of goods exported. for Business and Economic The industrial policy must be designed so that it is not geared towards picking a few ‘winners’ from Research. He has a PhD in selected industries, but rather target a wide range of industries and products. Creative entrepreneurInternational Economics and ship should be promoted in order to diversify the range of products exported. The success of the inspecializes in the field of dustrial and trade policies will be gauged not only by the bolstering of the manufacturing sector but international trade. by ultimately reversing the declining trend in exports.

Coping with the ‘overvalued’ exchange rate dilemma

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PERSONAL FINANCE

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COVER STORY

WILL THE INTRODUCTION OF QR CODES AND CLASSIFIED PORTALS BY JANG AND DAWN BE ENOUGH TO COVER FOR A DECADE OF COMPLETE HIBERNATION?

By Abbas Naqvi DISRUPTION

C Classified ads were providing a fairly substantial and a steadily growing revenue stream to Pakistan's two leading newspapers, Jang and Dawn. Other newspaper groups, like Express and Nawai-i-Waqt, much to their dismay had miserably failed to make any dent in this lucrative market, which had essentially become a ‘JangDawn’ exclusive territory. More importantly due to the very nature of classified ads, this segment was also unthreatened by the otherwise burgeoning players in the satellite television industry. Jang in Urdu and Dawn in English, were so to speak, the undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champions of the Rs 300 crores classified ad market.

However,a change was underway with the launch of Pakwheels.com in 2003 - an automobile classified portal, followed by the entry of the classified job portal, Rozee.pk. The two newspapers groups didn't realize the potential threat posed by these tech-start ups so much so, that they even supported their own demise by sponsoring job fairs conducted by their soon to be competitor, Rozee.pk.

And even though print numbers had started to show early warning signs before 2010, it wasn't until 2015 when classified portals like OLX, Pakwheels, Zameen and Rozee had launched massive ad campaigns on television, outdoor and print, that the two hotshot newspapers realised what had actually hit them.

The increasing number of people familiarizing with the internet and subsequent emergence of the 3G and 4G spectrums in Pakistan gave way to a technological revolution in the smartphone industry. In turn, this has significantly impacted the classified ad industry making it profoundly different from its former ensemble.

Late to the party?

Giants admit

e were like an ostrich with its head in the sand when the online portals sprung up in Pakistan,” says Sarmad Ali, Managing Director, Jang Media Group, who also happens to be the current President of the All Pakistan Newspaper Society. “We could say that we did this and that to counter the online portals, but that won’t be true – we were late to respond.”

A similar narrative comes from Dawn.

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“If truth be told, we had our own reservations about the online classifieds industry, and we thought they would fail and not survive with such a business model,” says Kashif Saeed, Director Operations at Dawn Group - Pakistan’s first and oldest Englishlanguage newspaper which has been in circulation since before the country gained independence, and has thus maintained a strong grip on the market for English dailies.However, Saeed maintains that Dawn is still in the top slot when it comes to English classified ads. CEO of Dawn also agrees. “The future of print classifieds is very much there, as long as we handle the market properly, Dawn cannot be pushed out. However, it will depend on how we modify our behavior in the future and how the online portals modify their b

“WE WERE LIKE AN OSTRICH WITH ITS HEAD IN THE SAND WHEN THE ONLINE PORTALS SPRUNG UP IN PAKISTAN” Sarmad Ali, Managing Director Jang Media Group and President of the All Pakistan Newspaper Society

ehavior,” states Hameed Haroon. Monis Rehman, founder of Rozee, claims that he reached out to Dawn eight years ago with the idea of online portals but the offer was turned down. “They didn’t take the online threat seriously back then since we were unknown and off the radar,” says Rehman.

He goes on to say that now the classified giants of yesteryear are realising the importance of going online, but adds that it’s a classic example of ‘too little, too late’.

“Dawn was in a very strong position and had they done this 5 years ago, they would have been the market leaders today for sure,” asserts Rehman while referring to the soon to be launched Career portal of Dawn. Saeed from Dawn, however, argues that the classifieds ad volume is still there for the paper and the revenue from it is

growing, but admits it not being where it ought to have been, had they responded in a timely manner.

“If you were to ask me whether we are where we should have been had we responded earlier, then of course the answer would be no. Being late has impacted our business even if the management fails to acknowledge it,” says Saeed.

Talking about the emergence of classified sites, both Saeed and Ali concede that online portals have come a long way and have managed to successfully earn a position for themselves in the market. “They have damaged the conventional print media players like Jang and Dawn, but the revenues from these sources are still growing, albeit the growth rate is low,” maintains Ali.

why the ba‫מּ‬le for classifieds?

trictly speaking, classifieds earn a meagre 5% of Dawn’s total ad revenue. However, if we include the bigger job opportunity ads placed by corporates, this number more than doubles.

One rationale for clubbing these job ads with the rest of the classifieds is that they are published within the classified supplement, for instance in Dawn. However, the main basis is that job ads have the same impact on circulation numbers that the rest of the classifieds do. And that is why, despite relatively low contribution to the overall

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“If you were to ask me whether we are where we should have been had we responded earlIer, then of course the answer would be no. beIng late has Impacted our busIness even If the management faIls to acknowledge It” Kashif Saeed, Director Operations Dawn Group

“dawn was In a very strong posItIon and had they done thIs 5 years ago, they would have been the market leaders today for sure” Monis Rehman, founder of Rozee.pk

revenue, the classified category is so much more important.

The small classified ads and the notso-small job opportunity ads are directly related to readership numbers in Pakistan.

Both Dawn and Jang claim that the sales of their newspapers almost double on Sundays. Reason? Well, classified ads, they say. People buy the paper specifically on Sundays to take a look at the classifieds’ section. And thus, both the groups are adamant on retaining the business.

“We still double our sales on Sundays because of classifieds section, and we still have the same number of classified pages that we had ten years ago,” Saeed explains.

When Dawn first introduced its classified section in 1982 in Karachi, and in 1996 for the Lahore chapter and in 2000 for Is-

lamabad, it kept most of its categories absolutely free. The idea was to penetrate the market initially by not charging the advertisers. This makes Dawn’s apprehensions about the sustainability of the business models of classified portals somewhat more astonishing considering their business model of free posting of ads isn't any different from what Dawn had been following for many years.

In case of the Jang Group, classifieds contribute around 8% of its total ad revenue. This does not include the revenue it makes from big job opportunity ads. “We realised we had to salvage this business at all costs – it’s a huge business for us and we didn’t want to lose it,” Ali from Jang said. It’s the relationship between classifieds and readership numbers that makes it so crucial for media giants to retain the business. In terms of importance, the careers and real estate categories hold the most significance for Dawn and the reason cited by their director was that in most growing economies, real estate is a huge sector. And more specifically, in a country where everyone – politicians, army, business tycoons and bureaucrats, is investing in the real estate sector, it naturally becomes one of the most important one.

Jang also has almost the same preference when it comes to importance of categories for classified ads: real estate, jobs and automobiles.

be‫מּ‬er late than never: giants fight back

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he print titans initiated their response strategy a year after OLX, the international giant in online horizontal portals owned by Naspers

medIa & marketIng

Media Group, launched a massive marketing campaign. The campaign was a sort of a statement by OLX on behalf of all classified portals announcing that they had arrived, and were serious players in the industry.

OLX continues to be the largest advertiser on TV in the internet category.

Other portals like Zameen, Pakwheels and Rozee also followed suit with big ad campaigns.

Jang was the first to respond with a two pronged strategy. First, they convinced people to continue advertising in Jang for which it ran a massive marketing campaign in September 2015 with taglines such as ‘Yaqeeni deal har baar!’ which meant: a sure shot deal every time.

Also, in order to make up for the lack of pictures in its classified section Jang introduced Quick Response (QR) codes which are printed on the ads in the newspaper. These codes allow the user of the classified section to watch a 20 seconds-long video and a few pictures of the said item which is being advertised.

This was done in an effort to counter the growing digital presence of the online portals by imbibing similar features in their own service. In addition to the normal cost of advertising, Rs 150 are charged from the advertiser in order for them to avail this feature.

“OLX IS CURRENTLY NOT EARNING ANY REVENUE FROM PAKISTAN, BEING BACKED BY DEEP POCKETS OF NASPERS, WE CAN AFFORD TO TREAD THE PATH OF EARNING NO REVENUES AND YET, PROMOTING THE BRAND IMAGE THROUGH A HUGE ADVERTISING BUDGET” Bilal Bajwa, Country Manager for OLX Pakistan

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“NOW ALL ANYBODY HAS TO DO IS LOOK ON THE WEBSITE AND BROWSE THROUGH OUR INVENTORY OF OVER 600,000 PROPERTY LISTINGS WITH COMPLETE INFORMATION, PICTURES, DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS – AND ALL THIS FROM THE COMFORT OF THEIR HOME” Zeeshan Ali Khan, CEO Zameen.com

However, the biggest shift in Jang’s strategy came when it launched its own classified portal in Urdu last year.

“Our business models are different but we’re in the same industry, vying for winning over the same end-user,” says Ali from Jang.

Following Jang’s footsteps, Dawn also introduced QR codes late last year to

strengthen its print business. On top of this, Dawn finally launched its job portal last month. Explaining the newly launched job portal, Faris Islam, Manager Marketing Dawn says that Dawn is offering different packages whereby print advertisers can place their ads online. In addition, they also have advertisers who only wish to place ads online.

“We have 25,000 jobseekers and over 1, 000 employers on the online platform,” says Ali Hasan GM Marketing, Dawn.

Take a look at the portal and it shows only four ‘Premier Employers’ and only three job ads posted. Looks like the remaining 996 employers don’t exist on the portal.

One cannot even find a separate category for ‘Ordinary’ employers in case you want to look for other employers, or job ads for that matter.

When asked if they believe they are late in going online, Islam says that the group had been waiting for the introduction of 3G and 4G because according to him, most users access such portals through mobile phones.

“I think going in before the introduction of 3G/4G would have put us at a disadvantage because most people use it on the phone,” says Islam.

One cannot discount the fact that the online portals had already been established by the time 3G and 4G services were introduced in the country, and that the services only boosted the portals’ user-base mani-

THE SMALL CLASSIFIED ADS AND THE NOT-SO-SMALL JOB OPPORTUNITY ADS ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO READERSHIP NUMBERS IN PAKISTAN. BOTH DAWN AND JANG CLAIM THAT THE SALES OF THEIR NEWSPAPERS ALMOST DOUBLE ON SUNDAYS fold. Still, does it really take two years (since 3G services) to get the portal online?

“We hired a former employee of OLX to work for us so that we could learn and integrate our business model with their business model and thus, create a presence on digital media,” says Saeed, while talking about the upcoming online classifieds section and careers’ portal on Dawn’s website.

All the ads published in the newspaper will have the feature of going online too, with no extra premium charged for it.

Hasan, while acknowledging the shortcomings of print classifieds, says, “We are working on the concept of online classifieds because navigation and searching is difficult in newspaper.”

“See, we believe that the quality of our product is more important than being inhibited by a timeline. The (online) portals already have a presence and a delay of six months won’t really make a difference now,” believes Saeed. “Therefore, the priority is to get the right product to our customers.”

A huge number of moderators will need to be hired in order to monitor the ads which will be posted online, since any obscenity or spam posting will directly impact the credibility and image of the core business of the firm i.e. the newspaper.

“Our business models are poles apart.

We are trying to do what they are doing while still retaining our business model and core business,” Saeed adds.

One can take a look at OLX to see

how the moderation is done. They have an automatic moderation software tool installed which filters obscene and illegal content when ads are posted. On top of that, OLX has a team of 30 people hired in Pakistan for customer services, working 24/7 to moderate each ad after it is passed by the software.OLX introduced phone verification through OTP (one-time password) to ensure all ads placed are from genuine sellers, verified through their mobile number.

The ad usually goes live within an hour after being posted.

Dawn, unlike Jang, hasn’t launched any ad campaign on television or otherwise for its job portal. Saeed feels that Dawn needs to tread very carefully on this path.

One scandal and the reputation of the media group falls into jeopardy.

“If the management tells me to go all in, with all my resources, I can do it and

our competition will not stand a chance to compete against us if I offer all my media properties to my customers,” Saeed says while also acknowledging the fact that they are not doing it because: one, they want to play safe and two, their core business is newspaper and not online classifieds.

Dawn has a multimedia presence in the country through ownership of a TV channel, a newspaper, a radio station (City FM89) and multiple magazine titles, and can deal with all competitors through excessive above-the-line marketing of its online classifieds.

In response to Dawn’s threat of using its media properties to lure more users, Rehman dismisses it on the basis of economics and the resultant opportunity cost of doing something like that. “You can’t just say that using your own media to advertise and promote a product doesn’t cost you.

MEDIA & MARKETING

There’s obviously an opportunity cost and a marginal cost attached to it too,” he explains.The Jang Group is even bigger than Dawn Group. It has at least five newspapers, namely: Jang, Awaaz (Lahore based), Inqalab, Waqt and The News (English daily) and combined, they are by far the largest circulated media group.

The group also has a large electronic presence owing to the ownership of one of the most popular TV channels under the brand name of Geo. These include Geo News, Geo Super, Geo Kahani, Geo Tez and Geo Entertainment.

For now, it seems both Dawn and Jang are trying to tackle the issue by integrating their business models with online portals, and by building a digital footprint for themselves with features like the QR codes (to allow for pictures) and an online classifieds’ portal. This has resulted in a partial success as well. The situation of stagnation in Jang’s automobile and real estate category saw an improvement after their marketing campaign aimed at focusing on the credibility of the paper, and the higher probability of a product being sold through conventional classified vis-a-vis an ad on an online portal. As a result, Jang’s revenue from classified witnessed an increase of 22% in the year 2015-16.

Value propositions or propaganda?

ach player in the industry has something to offer to its customer. Dawn and Jang, by and large, have the same value proposition for its customers, namely credibility and security.

“Print classifieds, by their very nature, are known for security. Online portals are known for being less costly but the possibility of fraud is higher online. You see,

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“THE FUTURE OF PRINT CLASSIFIEDS IS VERY MUCH THERE, AS LONG AS WE HANDLE THE MARKET PROPERLY. DAWN CANNOT BE PUSHED OUT” Hameed Haroon, CEO Dawn

24

nothing is for free. You’re paying for it one way or the other. Online is less costly but the information uploaded there lacks credibility, especially in categories like job ads,” says CEO Dawn, Hameed Haroon.

Echoing similar views Ali takes it up a notch. “We believe that ads published in our classifieds section are more credible, and the instances of theft and fraud rarely ever take place on our forum,” he claims further adding that it is very easy to commit fraud on online portals because there is little value for anything that is for free.

But that in itself is a challenge as well.

“The problem is that we offer credibility and our brand has had a reputation for decades, while they offer the lure of free advertisement,” Ali reiterates.

The online portals, however, tell another story. They offer free advertisement (in most cases), greater convenience for the users, and a higher outreach of a particular ad posted online. The obvious reason for this is the increasing number of internet users. As for theft and fraud, online portals vehemently disagree with the conventional players and claim that it’s a propaganda waged by the newspapers to dissuade people from posting ads online. All are susceptible to fraud, including the newspapers.

“We advise our users to make the exchange at a public place and never go alone to meet the buyer or seller,” says Suneel Sarfraz Munj, co-owner of Pakwheels.

Due diligence is the responsibility of the buyer and seller, not the company’s responsibility. National Database and Registration Authority’s (NADRA) verification of mobile phone sims against the National Identity Cards of the users make it increasingly difficult to commit fraud online.

And with a cybercrime bill in the offing, it would just get more difficult to take someone for a ride online.

TO MAKE UP FOR THE LACK OF PICTURES IN ITS CLASSIFIED SECTION JANG INTRODUCED QUICK RESPONSE (QR) CODES TO ALLOW USER TO WATCH A 20 SECONDS LONG VIDEO AND A FEW PICTURES OF THE ADVERTISED ITEM “This act by the government makes fraudulent activity more traceable and difficult to commit,” says Bilal Bajwa, the Country Manager for OLX Pakistan. Bajwa says that OLX is currently not earning any revenue from Pakistan, being backed by deep pockets of Naspers, he says OLX can afford to tread the path of earning no revenues and yet, promoting the brand image through a huge advertising budget.

“We believe all players try to provide users with the best experience and in the end whoever does it best will win,” adds Bajwa Print media was the only viable option for people to buy and sell products before the internet came around. But the problems of print classifieds such as limited description, payment to publish an ad, the absence of photo publishing option (except through QR codes), low reach and discoverability make it a less preferable option for the users.

Perhaps, the greatest of changes has come by due to the emergence of the online estate portal named Zameen.com which has not only revolutionised the way estate is advertised but also how the buyers interact with the sellers.

“Searching for property is an onerous task. What Zameen.com has done is to make it convenient and a hassle-free business for people to look up properties from the comfort of their own homes,” explains Zeeshan Ali Khan, CEO Zameen.com.

According to Khan, before Zameen.com came onto the scene, people heavily relied on newspapers to find property, but would only get vague information and a phone number, no detailed description or pictures. “So all prospective buyers

had to take out time to pay the property a visit to get an idea about what was up for sale.” Zameen.com has been a gamechanger in that sense. Khan believes that not only have they been able to remove the stress in all of this, they have also opened a window into a world full of options. “Now all anybody has to do is look on the website and browse through our inventory of over 600,000 property listings with complete information, pictures, detailed descriptions – and all this from the comfort of their home,” shares Khan.

With the booming success of vertical portals like Pakwheels and Zameen, the automobiles category in Jang classifieds had been hit while the real estate category remained stagnated in the FY 2014-2015.

The managing director of Jang disclosed some financials from this period, saying that the classifieds’ business in 2013-14 was worth almost Rs 65 crores in terms of revenue for Jang, and went down to Rs 54 crores in 2014-15. That amounts to a 17% fall.

Pakwheels has now gained a reputation of being one of the best in the car buying and selling industry. Munj shares his journey from the launch of the website, when Dawn and Jang were classified kings, to the current day, and recalls how people discouraged him in the early days by saying things like: “Cars only sell through newspapers, not through online portals.”

“Our unique selling point (USP) is our knowledge about cars; we’re the best at it and this is our forte,” Munj says, sitting in his spacious office in central Lahore.

According to Munj conventional classified players like Dawn and Jang are giving in to the power of digital media by incorporating a digital presence in their business models. He thinks that tactics employed by these players, like the QR codes cause more inconvenience to the end-users since they still have to go through a cumbersome process involving buying a newspaper, then having an internet connection and a suitable phone which could read the QR code to route the user to online pictures or videos of the item.

“Print classifieds, even the entire print industry is akin to a person who is dying, but is put on a ventilator to delay death,” Munj says. He adds that it is only a matter of time when these big shots will run out of money and will have to take their product down from the ‘ventilator’.

“TACTICS EMPLOYED BY CONVENTIONAL PLAYERS, LIKE THE QR CODES CAUSE MORE INCONVENIENCE TO THE USERS SINCE THEY STILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OF BUYING A NEWSPAPER, THEN HAVING AN INTERNET CONNECTION AND A SUITABLE PHONE WHICH COULD READ THE QR CODE AND ROUTE THE USER TO THE ONLINE PICTURES OR VIDEOS OF THE ITEM” Suneel Munj, Co-owner of Pakwheels.com

“Internet has changed the way people consume information and has certainly had a massive impact on the classifieds industry,” believes Rehman. For him, the problem lies with the low circulation numbers in the overall print industry, especially when it comes to English dailies.

Reach of Urdu newspapers is higher than English newspapers, and it makes sense to believe that the vernacular print media definitely has an advantage there.

“They also have the benefit of reaching those localities which don’t have access to the internet, hence effectively targeting the socioeconomic class (SEC) B, C and D,” says Rehman. Whatever the number for print circulation, it is considerably less than the number of people who access the internet in Pakistan.

“All evidence is pointing in the direction that online classifieds will also impact Urdu classifieds in the coming years as more people from SEC C and D start ac-

cessing the internet through smartphones.”

“After a certain tipping point, making your mark in this industry gets increasingly difficult,” says Rehman. To substantiate his claims, Rehman talks about how OLX has been massively advertising, only to gain the position of ‘the best’ in general classifieds’ market.According to Rehman, Dawn or any other media group cannot match the spending of OLX. “Their [OLX’s] plan is very well thought out and probably the best.

They are waiting for the right time to charge their customers,” says Rehman while talking about OLX and its policy of not earning revenue. Once their position is built, a new entrant will not be able to make a difference, as per Rehman. According to similarweb.com, OLX is ranked 12 and Pakwheels is ranked 42 in Pakistan, while alexa.com ranks them 22 and 52, respectively. Each of them has 6 million and 2.8 million total visits, respectively.

Status quo in for a change?

ith Rozee already having launched its Urdu version of the website, a question comes to mind. Is the inflection point in classifieds’ industry going to come from the rise of vernacular online media and growing internet penetration?

If so, on what scale and in what manner would it individually affect each player in this huge industry?

Only time will tell.

W

MEDIA & MARKETING

JOURNEY

It runs in the family

Fazal Din & Sons OFFERING

‘Sehat’

By Syeda Masooma

SEHAT IS THE FIRST ONLINE PLATFORM FOR SALE OF MEDICINAL PRODUCTS OFFERING SERVICES TO 320 CITIES ACROSS PAKISTAN 26

hortly after Pakistan’s independence, Haji Sheikh Fazal Din established his first retail pharmacy on the famous and historically significant Mall Road in Lahore. Since 1948 Fazal Din and Sons (Pvt.) Ltd. has remained a household name because of being an integral part of the healthcare industry.

Today the fourth generation of the family is running the business which has now expanded to more than 300 cities across the country and includes several strategic business units. One such venture of the group is Apothecare (Pvt.) Ltd. Run by the great grandson of Fazal Din, Apothecare has three operational categories: over-the-counter sales, prescription drugs and consumer products. CEO of Apothecare, Nadir Mumtaz is involved in their Sehat project - the first online platform for sale of medicinal and consumer products in Pakistan.

A mathematician and economist by education, and an investment banker by profession, Nadir has successfully launched three companies. Sehat was launched in 2014 after the company carried out a formal market survey to analyze the practicality of introducing an online pharmacy in Pakistan.

In April the same year, the online channel of Sehat was offi-

“THERE IS SUCH A HUGE MARKET THAT THERE IS VIRTUALLY NO COMPETITION. AND IF THERE ARE MORE COMPETITORS THAT WOULD ONLY MEAN THAT MORE CUSTOMERS ARE DIRECTED TOWARDS ONLINE PHARMACIES” Nadir Mumtaz, CEO of Apothecare

cially launched. Currently, it is supplying prescription medicines and consumer products along with implants and other surgical equipment.

Nadir Mumtaz and Marketing Head Apothecare, Bilal Mumtaz believe that Sehat is continuing the tradition of Fazal Din, as innovators in Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry. Sharing insights about their project, Nadir says that Sehat is the first of its kind channel. “Fazal Din introduced endoscopy, laparoscopy and several other operations in Pakistan. The software employed at the moment by pharmacies throughout Lahore for record keeping was also Fazal Din’s contribution,” claims Nadir.

Being the first online pharmacy Sehat has and still is reaping certain advantages.

Even though many similar platforms have sprung up since its launch, Sehat is still the biggest player in the country. It is offering services to 320 cities in Pakistan and has already supplied to consumers in more than 190 cities.

Since its launch two years ago, Sehat has shown tremendous growth. Becoming a major player in its first year of operations, it continued to grow by almost 150 per cent in its second year. Currently, it receives approximately 300 orders per week.

However, Sehat does not have much room to manoeuvre in terms of profit. Nadir

says with price of medicines being fixed by the government, it puts a ceiling on the profit margins. “There is a 15 per cent margin on the cost price and that is the maximum we can get, like any other pharmaceutical company.” He says the only way to increase revenues, and thus profitability, was to increase sales. For Sehat the majority of its revenues come from individual customers. “When corporations buy, they obviously order in larger quantities, but overall it’s the individual customers that make up for majority of our revenues,” explains Nadir.

For the distribution of medicines across the country, Sehat has partnered with TCS and Leopard courier services. They also had OCS and RoadRunner on board, starting their business with the latter, but dropped them due to higher costs. Sehat has also offered options for payments through Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Bank Alfalah, Allied Bank (ABL), and Standard Chartered, as

MEDIA & MARKETING

well as through Easy Paisa, Jazz Cash, Visa cards and Master Cards.

“Our primary goal is to facilitate the customers. We also provide them with cash on delivery options in remote areas,” he adds. Elaborating further, he says that Sehat also offers regular ordering facility. “If someone has to take some medication continuously, they can use this option and register with us once” says Nadir. After that, every month or after a period specified by the customers, their medicines are delivered without them having to order again and again.

To ensure that there are no underage sales, and to avoid drug-seeking behaviour, Sehat has made the provision of prescription necessary for all medicinal drugs. “Customers can send us their prescriptions on Whatsapp or through email. We have a trained team here to verify the authenticity of those prescriptions before issuing medicines.” The entire system is automated but there are 45 people employed in the company who are responsible for ensuring proper operations, orders and sales through this online platform.

One of the challenges for any pharmacy is advertising. The pharmaceutical industry is highly regulated worldwide and there are legal limits for its advertisements. Nadir says that they have to be cautious in choosing the products to advertise as well as the means of advertising. “We cannot say nor do everything we want. Not only in Pakistan but all around the world pharmaceuticals face this issue.” Citing an example, Nadir says that Google was fined two billion dollars by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for advertising non-FDA approved drugs of a Canadian pharmacy.

Nadir says that not only pharmaceuticals but even advertisement agencies are also wary of advertising medicines. “We use radio and social media to advertise our online channel, but we have not yet used a TV commercial.” Though Bilal says that there might be a TVC on the cards, but there are no plans to use it for marketing any time soon.

The website is operable on smart phones, but there is no mobile application launched as yet. In their advertisements, Sehat does not highlight or favour any particular brand of medicine or manufacturer.

“Sometimes some brands do offer discounts and we pass them on to customers. But we ourselves do not promote any brand.” Other

28

ACCORDING TO NADIR, THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN IS NEARLY WORTH $2.2 BILLION AND THE E-COMMERCE BUSINESS FOR MEDICINES IS BARELY WORTH $100 MILLION TO $120 MILLION than suggesting alternatives for cases when a particular medicine is unavailable or short in market, there is no part played by Sehat in sales of any particular type or brand of medicine.

According to Nadir, the pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan is nearly worth $2.2 billion and the e-commerce business for medicines is barely worth $100 million to $120 million. He says that despite being one of the biggest online platforms, Sehat’s market share is minimal. “There is such a huge market that there is virtually no competition. And if there are more competitors that would only mean that more customers are directed towards online pharmacies. The entire market will grow and competition will still be minimal.”

Sehat has around 300 companies in Pakistan as their suppliers for medicines and are partners with 70 of them. They keep their own stock but have reliable suppliers to back on. Despite having an entirely IT based system, and a range of suppliers, Sehat has to go through certain challenges. “A couple of years back there was a severe shortage of a vaccine for children. We already knew that it would happen because GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) shifted one of its manufacturing plants from Belgium to France, and Pakistan had not registered with them for the medicine,” recalls Nadir. While Sehat stocked the vaccine as much as it could, there was still a shortage. Nadir believes that such incidents are preventable but at the government level, with individual companies or pharmacies only being able to predict and not prevent such incidents.

There have also been instances of unhappy customers, but the company had managed to stay clear of litigation and any legal ramifications. “We do our best to ensure that no wrong medicine is given. We also ask to our clients regarding their allergies to any medicine. But no matter what you do there are always some complaints.”

Sehat also offers consumer products, but it continues to operate primarily as a medicinal platform. For the company’s future plans, Nadir says that they will grow as and when opportunities come. “We are expanding our supply to the remotest areas. Our aim is to make buying medicines convenient and easy for as many people as we can.”

MEDIA & MARKETING

OPINION

Humayon Dar

shares of a company) is exchanged with an asset of the same genus in unequal quantities, whether on spot or with deferment of payment from one party, the difference in quantities exchanged is considered as riba, which is prohibited in the Holy Quran. This is the here are several categories of muslims in Pakdefinition of riba, which is in line with the opinions of jurists of all istan: (1) non-practicing (liberal); (2) indifferent; times, from the first generation of Muslims to the present times.

(3) ordinary; (4) practicing; (5) intelligentsia; There are several points to be noted in this definition. and (6) conservative. The vast majority falls 1. Riba happens when one asset is exchanged in unequal quantities under the categories 3 and 4, while the first two in a contractual arrangement. Thus, if Omar exchanges one kiloand the last two categories are in a minority, ingram of wheat with Ali who in return pays two kilograms of wheat dividually as well as collectively. While the first to Omar, the transaction involves riba. However, there is no riba in three categories are least interested in Islamic fitrading. A trade is a transaction between two parties whereby one nancial issues like the prohibition of riba (interparty exchanges an asset (eg, a commodity) for another asset (eg, est), the last three categories are interested in the issue but do not money) paid by the other party. In a trade, at least two assets are adequately understand this important prohibition. All the categories involved; one is considered as an object of sale and the other is share one thing – confusion on the definition of riba. considered as price. There is no incidence of riba in trades even if Confusion on what riba stands for is ubiquitous. Most imams and the assets are exchanged in unequal quantities. Thus, if someone khateebs of mosques would not be able to elaborate it further than exchanges one kilogram of wheat with someone who pays two saying that it is “sood” (Urdu for interest). Even some great Iskilograms of dates in return, the transaction is a legitimate trade. lamic scholars from the various schools of thought in Pakistan 2. Riba is a quantitative concept. In economics, we say that it is a would not be able to differentiate between the prohibited riba and nominal concept and not a real concept. Islam favours quantity the permissible trade. (numbers, weight, size etc) over quality, taking an objective view Many of those educated people who claim to understand riba opine in order to minimise disputes in transactions. Thus, if someone exthat interest paid and charged by banks is not prohibited. For them changes two ounces of 18 carat gold with another person for less the raison d’être of the prohibition of riba is exploitation of the than two ounces of 21 carat gold, the transaction involves riba. weaker party to a loan, ie, the borrower. Even some scholars think 3. Riba is not just about the time value of money, ie, it is not corthat charging interest is acceptable in inflationary environments. rect to assume that riba takes place only in transactions that inIt must be clarified here that the raison d’être of the prohibition of volve payments (by at least one party, ie, a borrower) to exchange riba is not exploitation in its general form and meanings but a spe110 rupees of old currency notes for 100 rupees of new currency cific injustice that arises from inequality of payments. To undernotes. This is something many people do on the joyous occasion of stand this point fully and appreciate what is prohibited in Islam, it eid, attempting to give eidi in new currency notes to children. This is important to define the prohibited riba first. In a transaction beis an obvious example of a spot transaction involving riba. tween two parties, when an asset (commodity, currency or even 4. Given that riba is a quantitative concept, it is not acceptable for a moneylender to receive from a borrower more than what he lent because inflation increased during the loan period. Therefore, indexation of loans is not acceptable in Islam.

Humayon Dar 5.

It must be emphasised that a pure exchange of money for money is acceptable in Islam only on a spot is a shari’a advisor to a basis and in exactly equal amounts. Lending money in the form of qard hasan is acceptable as an act of number of banks and charity, ie, allowing the borrower to use the money for a period until he is able to return it. No charge for financial institutions and the use of money is allowed in Islam. can be contacted at humayon@humayondar.com These are only a few main points about riba, the prohibition of which is one of the strictest in Islam, as the Holy Quran equates charging and paying interest to entering into war with Allah and his Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

The prohibition of riba

T

PERSONAL FINANCE

29

START-UP

The

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Apple syndrome: When one will purchase any and all Apple products regardless of price or need, as long as it is the latest product in the market. In extreme cases, a sufferer can be presented with two identical iPhones, one labelled iPhone 5 and the other iPhone 5S. Yet, a person suffering from the syndrome will delude themselves into thinking that the one labelled iPhone 5S is somehow superior. It is a very weird, scary and sometimes ridiculous thing to comprehend how much dependent we are on a flat, thin slab of metal and glass powered by, what we still simplistically call, a computer chip. It probably never even occurred to any tech consumer over the past 10 years that the industry would churn out a new gadget, or a modified one, every year.

Similarly, it probably also never occurred to that same consumer that somewhere after 2012, the industry just started spitting out more of the same, kind of like new wine in old bottle. The industry of smartphones, laptops, and home PCs has changed drastically over the last decade. Touchscreen platforms have been added to almost all systems and it seems that tech companies believe touch interface is going to be the future. Looking at the smartphone industry, Apple and Samsung are the two big names that come to mind. Over the years, smartphones have started looking quite similar and yet, increasing the model number by a digit keeps the consumer coming back for more. Although Apple and Samsung have a very varied product range, both are extreme competitors at their highend models. In 2016, both companies came out with newer models of their high-end smartphones and there were some obvious differences this year, both in terms of the operating software as well as the design.

Looking at Samsung’s offering in March this year, and it appears that the Galaxy S7 Edge was the first time consumers saw a phone very unlike Samsung’s usual safe play plastic-at-theback-glass-at-the-front approach. Like its predecessor, the S6 Edge, the new kid

40

By Asad Nizami on the block boasted a larger screen and an all glass body giving it a very well balanced and elegant look. The double-edged front and back screen make the phone look more complete, but at the same time decrease the screen’s overall integrity as numerous drop-tests have proven. The front edge screen features also happen to be useless so it is merely a design plus for the phone and nothing more. Apple’s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus came this August, and as always Apple fans frolicked to their nearest Apple store to get a fix of all that is “super amazing” about the brand. The iPhone 7 Plus, however, is not in the scope of this piece with the focus being on the comparison between the iPhone 7 and Samsung’s S7 Edge. Apple, this year, had the gall to roll out an iPhone 6 and call it an iPhone 7. The fans ate it up and lined up to get a glimpse of what they already had in their hands. The new iPhone has a new chip, a new camera, new colours and a new price tag. One obvious change, however, was the idiotic removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack so that all third-party headphone manufacturers would have to pay Apple to use the lightning port exclusive to the brand. The only way to charge your phone and attach headphones at the same time is by purchasing Apple’s special adapter, which again is a truly ridiculous notion. Apple’s blind faith in their consumers and vice versa has resulted in consumer exploitation of the highest degree in terms of price and design, and it doesn’t seem that consumers are willing to be aware of this any time soon. The new IOS (iOS 10.1) does, however, offer some relief with a better 3D touch system and more integration of applications. IOS has always been a cleaner, more sophisticated Operating System (OS) than Android, and this year’s phones are no exception. Samsung has also radically redone many of the features on their new OS (Android OS, v6.0, Marshmallow) and are realising that it needs to improve consistently. What Apple has done is that they have focused more on OS improvement, and the hardware in which that OS goes into remains pretty much the same with some modifications that range from the chipset architecture, camera to the finish, which does make a difference.

The problem, however, is honesty.

Apple has stopped being honest with their consumers and makes them think they are still revolutionising the tech-industry. But nowadays, it takes a little more than Sir Jonathan Ive’s soothing voice in an Apple advert telling consumers how stupidly brilliant Apple is.

Samsung might be headed in the same direction. It might take longer for them to reach their creativity saturation

point as the company is vastly different from Apple, but there will come a point where the criticism on Apple would apply to Samsung as well. Samsung’s recent catastrophe with the explosive Galaxy Note 7 has put a dent in the company’s last quarter earnings, and naturally Apple was jubilant and did not miss out on the opportunity.

The smartphone industry therefore, has somewhat saturated and maybe, the

only good thing to come out will be in the form of intangible software goodies, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Only time will tell what hardware ingenuity comes the consumer’s way in the future. With Google also gearing up with their ‘Pixel’, the market might just have a new entrant to be reckoned with.

Till then the best one can hope for is a little bit more honesty in the market. And thank God for headphone jack!

DISRUPTION

START-UP

By Syed Abbas Naqvi he only way to get started is by learning a marketable skill and getting to work. In my experience that is where ideas, opportunities, partners and finances always seem to come from." And that is precisely how it worked out in this story. Meet Baqir Zaidi, an entrepreneur, and now co-owner of The Organic Shop – a venture aiming to promote healthier choices by offering consumers organic products.

34

His journey towards launching an organic shop in a posh locality of Lahore - the Defence Housing Authority, started from a call centre from whereon the young entrepreneur even ran a roadside tobacco shop.

Clearly, Zaidi has an interesting tale to tell.

After completing his graduation from the Lahore School of Economics with majors in Business Administration in 2006, Zaidi completed his master’s in 2012. During the process he also took up jobs in order to support his education. Right after his graduation, he joined Warid Telecom Call

“IF YOU WANT TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR, YOU WOULD HAVE TO CONSTANTLY CHALLENGE YOURSELF AND PUSH YOUR LIMITS" Baqir Zaidi, co-owner of The Organic Shop

Centre, working as Sales Executive. At the age of 24, he joined Pakistan Today as Manager Circulation Sales, and within six months, he scored the position of Head of Circulation Promotion South in Karachi.

It was right around this time when he bought a roadside tobacco shop for Rs 100,000 in DHA. Later, he sold it off for Rs 350,000.

“Starting a business is, by its very nature, a challenging endeavour, and achieving entrepreneurial success under any circumstance is a great accomplishment. If you want to be an entrepreneur, you would have to constantly challenge yourself and push your limits,” shares Zaidi while speaking about his journey.

As fate would have it, he joined the Inqalab Centre of Alternative Medicine (ICAM) in 2012 and entered into a tripartite partnership with his sister, Dr. Masooma Zainab, and Dr. AM Chaudhry. The centre was established in 1997 with the purpose of treating its patients through holistic, traditional and natural therapies including acupuncture, acupressure and Hijama therapies. It also uses moxibustion, a traditional Chinese medicinal treatment used with

JOURNEY

acupuncture to facilitate healing.

It was while working at ICAM that Zaidi recognised the untapped potential of not only using natural products and therapies for treating medical conditions but for preventing them altogether. "Prevention is better than cure. Therefore, I started working towards my newfound goal of building a footprint in an industry which may be maturing in the West today, but is still an infant in Pakistan."

Launched in June 2015, The Organic Shop offers its customers a unique concept of healthy eating and making the right choices when it comes to buying different products. Claiming a footfall of 250 customers every day, the shop offers a range of different products, some of which are sourced from the Netherlands, Dubai, and

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“WHEN IT COMES TO DAIRY AND POULTRY ITEMS, WE ABSOLUTELY CANNOT TRUST TO OUTSOURCE, PARTICULARLY AT A TIME WHEN WE ARE RELATIVELY NEW IN THE MARKET” Baqir Zaidi

London among other countries. Over 400 different items are available at the shop.

Ranging from dairy and poultry products, herbs and spices to cosmetics, skincare, and essential oils, The Organic Shop has it all. Pulses, organic pickles, bamboo scrubs, eucalyptus oil and the like adorn the shelves in the shop.

As for pricing, skin care products, like its Iceberg Deep Cleansing Milk is priced as high as Rs 2,500 while products such as soya bean fetch as little as Rs 100. Dairy products like butter and half a kilo of Desi Ghee are available for Rs 800 and Rs 1,500 respectively.

"The time has come to change consumer behaviour and educate about organic products,” says Zaidi. "In fact, many people are already conscious consumers and although it is a niche market, for them buying organic products is a way of living."

Ten percent of all the herbs used are being sourced from Shanghai and Yuni in China, while the rest are sourced locally.

“We source the popular herb Ginseng and mulberry powder along with a few others from China.” Zaidi also says that there is a wide variety of medicinal herbs growing in Pakistan, especially in the northern areas of the country.

The co-founder of the shop has his own farm, where he breeds his livestock and poultry, whereas a production unit for alternative and herbal medicines has also been set up. But there is also caution because of the deception and fraud the average consumer faces in regards to such products.

"When it comes to dairy and poultry items, we absolutely cannot trust to outsource, particularly at a time when we are relatively new in the market and aim to build a longlasting relationship with our customers,” says Zaidi.

Sharing his experiences on entrepreneurship, Zaidi believes there’s a need to focus on adapting as per the needs of consumers. “In today's age, where even a small mistake gets magnified by the undeniably powerful telescope of social media, I feel companies spend a lot of time in explanation rather than rectification. We aim to set customers at the core of our service, and we hope to continue doing it."

JOURNEY

FOOD

STRATEGY

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By Aisha Arshad

Photos: Taha Bawany

here has been little to no doubt that Biryani has ruled the hearts (and definitely, the stomachs) of people for ages in this part of the world. But recently, a number of food joints, both old and new, have started offering space to another major contender in the rice and meat dishes genre, spicing up the battle which has to date been dominated by Biryani.

T

Yakhni Pulao, it seems, has arrived.

And in a sign that demand for it is picking up in Karachi, restaurants dealing exclusively in Pulao have opened up in various areas of the city. Even old food businesses have added Pulao to their menu to cater to the growing demand, resulting in a possible new competitor for Biryani - the most sought-after local cuisine.

Aromatic spices sizzled in clarified butter alongside thinly sliced onions, with basmati rice and meat cooked in the latter’s broth, and garnished with coriander and mint leaves to give your palate a mouthful of goodness is what Muhammad Arif Khan

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is offering at Koyla Yakhni Pulao, a 17year-old venture, which recently opened its second outlet in DHA Phase 2 Extension.

Khan, who had migrated with his family from India in 1947, had managed to bring with him, besides few of his belongings, a treasured family recipe of Pulao.

After working for 27 years in the Income Tax Department, Khan finally decided to call it quits during the 1990s, in order to start something that he held close to his heart – a food venture.

Since he didn’t have a deep pocket and a huge investment to start his business, Khan managed to arrange only a barrow at

OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, PULAO SPECIALIST RESTAURANTS HAVE STARTED TO GROW IN A CITY WHERE PREVIOUSLY ‘BIRYANI’ – LAYERED RICE AND MEAT DISH – WAS THE UNDISPUTED KING AMONG MASSES Baloch Colony and began selling his family’s much loved rice dish, Pulao. “I didn’t have anything to start with, but my passion for food made it possible.” The owner of one shop and partner in the other, Khan tells his journey with a glee. Today the seventyyear-old runs two shops with the name of Koyla Yakhni Pulao, one in Gulshan that he

started in 1999 and the other in DHA where he partnered with a friend in order to expand his food chain.

“It was not easy to explain people the dish. They only knew about Biryani,” explains Khan citing it as one of his biggest struggles at the start of the business. “They thought it lacked flavor,” he recalls.

However, over the past few years, Pulao specialist restaurants have started to grow in a city where previously ‘Biryani’ – layered rice and meat dish – was the undisputed king among masses. Khan calls himself pioneer of what has become Karachi’s recent food interest.

From Riwayat restaurant in Korangi to Standard Pulao in Landhi, to Koyla Yakhni Pulao in Defence and Gulshan, and Al-Asif Pulao on Super Highway, Karachi has recently witnessed a boom in restaurants that specialize in Pulao, selling it with different meat choices ranging from mutton, beef and chicken.

Khan, who initially sold a few plates a day, is now able to sell up to 20 kg of chicken Pulao, 10 kg of mutton Pulao and some 15 kg of beef Pulao every day due to increased interest of customers. And this consumption is just at his Defence branch.

A plate of chicken Pulao, which is around half a kg, costs Rs 200. Beef Pulao costs Rs 300 while for mutton the prices go up to Rs 400. Do a little math and it appears that Khan manages to make daily sales worth Rs 8, 000 for chicken and mutton Pulao each, while Rs, 9000 for beef Pulao in just one of

his two outlets in the city. That’s around Rs 25, 000.

“Over the years people have developed a taste for Pulao as well. They like something different now and we’re able to provide it,” says Khan explaining the recent rise in Pulao in a city where Biryani has been, and still is, an all-time favourite.

For a long time, only Biryani specialized restaurants existed and even today Biryani tops the chart for being the highest ordered food item on EatOye – Pakistan’s largest online food- ordering portal.

“Yes, we like Biryani too, but Pulao is a little different and somewhat subtle in

“IT WILL TAKE A LOT OF TIME FOR PULAO TO TAKE OVER BIRYANI. IT HAS ITS OWN MARKET AND IT’S NOT GOING ANYWHERE ANYTIME SOON” Iftekhar Siddiqui, owner of Riwayat Pulao

taste,” shares Mohib Ali, a customer at Koyla Yakhni Pulao. “When you don’t want to have a spoonful of spicy Biryani, Pulao is a better option.”

Iftekhar Siddiqui, owner of Riwayat Pulao in Korangi, has a realistic take on the recent phenomenon, and understands the dynamics of the trade well. “It will take a lot of time for Pulao to take over Biryani. It has its own market and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon,” he says. Although the restaurant owner knows Biryani’s strength, he himself markets Pulao on the restaurant’s signboard, believing that with time the dish has the potential to become the city’s favorite.

While Biryani is a spicy love affair that Karachiites can’t seem to fall out of, the presence of numerous customers outside Pulao restaurants signifies that the City of Lights may well be embracing the Persian dish with open arms.

STRATEGY

TECH-START-UP

A LOOK AT THE ONLINE HOTEL BOOKING COMPANY, JOVAGO PAKISTAN THAT OFFERS OVER 2, 000 ACCOMMODATION SOLUTIONS IN 160 CITIES ACROSS PAKISTAN

By Abbas Naqvi

rofit speaks to Tina Wang, Managing Director Jovago Pakistan on the potential and the recent growth of the online hospitality and tourism industry of the country.

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Profit: When was Jovago launched? And when did it arrive in Pakistan?

Wang: Globally, Jovago was launched in 2013 in Africa. After receiving a tremendous response from the African market, our investors (Rocket Internet and Ooreedo) decided to enter the Pakistani market.

We started our operations here in May 2014 following which it was registered locally in October. However, the team kept growing and it was formally launched in 2015.

The country has a huge potential for the hospitality and tourism industry, also because mobile and internet are changing the mindset of many travellers and hotels, [shifting it] from offline to online.

Profit: What is your business model?

Wang: We are an online hotel booking site so our business model is similar to that of any OTA (Online Travel Agent), based on commission for the hotels. The service is 100 % free for customers and we don't charge our hotel partners until we bring them customers. We invest a lot in online marketing, including on Google and Trip Advisor, for all our hotels so that our partners can receive the highest amount of visibility to gain customers. We also invest a lot in technologies.

Profit: What percentage of price or commission do you charge these hotels? And what are the factors that affect it?

Wang: It varies for different properties and can range from 20% to 30% depending on the hotel. There are a variety of factors that contribute to different commissions; some variables are related to the size, location, and type of hotel, as the travel industry is very much a seasonal industry.

Profit: Being one of the subsidiaries of Rocket Internet, what is its importance in the overall portfolio of Rocket Internet?

How big is it in terms of revenue?

Wang: Working with Rocket Internet gives us the ability to have the knowledge and learnings from a global organization and bring it to enhance our operations at a local level. Entities like Kaymu, Daraz, Carmudi and Lamudi are also the ventures of Rocket Internet and we work together with them as they are our sister ventures. Jovago Pakistan is a completely local company that has offices in Karachi and Lahore. Its operations have grown rapidly over the past two years, with our bookings growing by 300% since 2014.

Profit: How many countries and cities do you operate in?

Wang: We are providing hotels and guest houses in more than 40 countries spread largely across Asia and Africa. In Pakistan, we provide accommodation solutions in more than 2,000 hotels and guest houses in over 160 cities across four provinces.

Profit: Who is your main competition, within and outside of Pakistan?

Wang: The online travel industry itself is wit-

Profit: Will you start charging customers in future? When and why?

Wang: We would not be charging travellers to use our service as we aim to encourage people to travel domestically and enable them to book from a wide selection of hotel wherever and whenever they want.

nessing a growth as there are some local booking and vacation sites emerging as well as international players. But in terms of scope and reach, Jovago Pakistan is the only company in the country that offers the widest selection of hotels while providing our guests 24/7 customer service. Jovago aims to further grow with the local industry and contribute to its development.

Profit: When will you break even?

Wang: In Pakistan, the e-commerce, as well as the local tourism industry is rapidly growing. However, there is still a long way to unleashing its fullest potential and for a company working in this industry, to realize

Profit: How many employees do you have?

Wang: Currently, we have a dedicated team of around 50 employees and this number is constantly growing.

DISRUPTION

its desirable profits.

As a company that started about 2 years ago, our main focus right now is to provide the best customer service possible to our guests, growing our portfolio of hotels to provide even more options and offering new products to help promote domestic tourism.

Profit: What is your Unique Selling Proposition?

Wang: Before acquiring any hotel for our website, our team personally visits the location, pays a due inspection of the site and personally takes pictures of the property to upload it on our website. We believe in complete transparency and therefore, all the pictures that we upload on our website are completely organic and unedited. This ensures that our website users do not face surprises when they personally visit the site.

Profit: What’s your core competency?

Wang: Democratize travel by easing the movement of travellers while providing the largest selection of hotels through our online platform at the best price.

We are the only online hotel booking company that has over 2, 000 accommodation solutions on its website. In addition, no other online hotel booking website provides the best price guarantee. By best price guarantee, we mean that when guests who booked with Jovago find a lower price advertised by other online booking services, they simply need to contact our 24/7 Customer Care who will process their request for a refund.

Profit: How are you marketing your product?

Wang: We use both online and offline methods of promotion for Jovago. A very large portion of our marketing budget is allocated to online marketing due to our tech and internet-based nature of business. In addition, we regularly conduct events that involve a lot of media participation that helps us reach wider audiences. We also do a lot of corporate partnerships in order to provide more value added services to our esteemed customers.

Profit: What is your target market?

Wang: Our core target market consists of people falling in the 25 to 45 age group and they represent 60 % of our customers. And 90 % of the bookings are made by men, who are

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WE WOULD NOT BE CHARGING TRAVELLERS TO USE OUR SERVICE AS WE AIM TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO TRAVEL DOMESTICALLY AND ENABLE THEM TO BOOK FROM A WIDE SELECTION OF HOTEL WHEREVER AND WHENEVER THEY WANT. also decision makers in their social circles.

And most of them are single travellers who book accommodation at the last minute.

However, recently we have observed a slight change in the trend. Now, a lot of women are also taking part in the decision to travel, and as a result, we are planning to launch a category of women-friendly hotels in Pakistan.

Profit: Do you focus on providing access to luxury hotels?

Wang: We aim to democratize the travel so we try to address the entire budget range of our customers, from one star to five stars hotels. Therefore, we do not focus on a specific

segment rather we want to offer as much choice as possible.

Profit: Strategically speaking, does Pakistan come under a region (South Asia) or is it independent from other countries?

Wang: Pakistan does lie in the Asian region.

However, our operations here are localized as we believe in providing customer-centric services which are only possible by customizing our offerings as per the local market requirements.

Profit: You claim to promote tourism in Pakistan, yet your website does not pro-

WE AIM TO DEMOCRATIZE THE TRAVEL SO WE TRY TO ADDRESS THE ENTIRE BUDGET RANGE OF OUR CUSTOMERS, FROM ONE STAR TO FIVE STARS HOTELS. THEREFORE, WE DO NOT FOCUS ON A SPECIFIC SEGMENT RATHER WE WANT TO OFFER AS MUCH CHOICE AS POSSIBLE. mote the northern areas of Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan) which has the highest potential for tourism. Why? Wang: We just recently introduced our new travel packages as well as customizable tours.

In this way we hope to attract more and more travellers to different beautiful regions of Pakistan. In all our social media platforms we introduce different sites of Pakistan ranging from places in Gilgit-Baltistan and Skardu, to Punjab and Sindh. On our website, we want to be able to not only promote tourism but at the same time, cater to the needs of our travellers. Some of the cities listed on our front page comprise of almost 20% of Pakistan's

tionals using our services to arrange their accommodation within Pakistan. Once these foreigners have a first-hand experience of visiting this country, they realize the potential of investing here. This can have a lot of positive impact on the overall travel industry of Pakistan in years to come. At Jovago, we are constantly trying to offer more ‘one- window’ travel solutions to promote and ease out local travelling.

population, so it makes sense to also make it easy for travellers (business or leisure) going to and from these cities to easily find their accommodation.

Profit: What future do you see for Pakistan’s hotel and tourism industry?

Wang: We have a lot of tourism potential since we lie on one of the most important trade routes of the world, which make it an ideal location for trade and commerce with South East, West and Central Asia. With the recent investments in Gwadar port and the influx of Chinese investments in the form of the Pak-China Economic Corridor, tourism within the country is expected to increase in the years ahead, making it a very attractive hub for investments in tourism and hotel business.

Profit: How would China-Pakistan Economic Corridor affect the tourism industry in Pakistan and what avenues are being explored by Jovago to exploit the potential?

Wang: Recent government initiatives like the signing of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor have poured in a lot of investment that can lead to very desirable results in the travel and tourism industry of Pakistan. For example, recently we witnessed many Chinese na-

This, in addition to the fact that local demand of travelling within Pakistan is increasing year on year, with an expected number of over 50 million domestic tourists forecasted

by Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, shows a lot of potential in the tourism industry and all travel related businesses.

However, the negative perception of Pakistan due to security problems will continue to pose a challenge in the coming years.

TALKING HEADS

“In today’s world of rapid change, adaptation is the key to survival. If a company stagnates, you will end up extinct and in the museum, like dinosaurs.”

Jahanzeb Q.Khan Vice President and General Manager PepsiCo Pakistan & Afghanistan Commercial Unit

“There are no shortcuts. You have to know the corporate world thoroughly before coming forward with your own corporate ideas and brand.”

Nadeem Ansar CEO, SFnZ & Co.

“There are many challenges women entrepreneurs face in Pakistan, but these can be converted into strengths if pursued with passion, belief and commitment.”

Fiza Farhan CEO, Buksh Foundation

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“The entire ecosystem of entrepreneurship functions on a combination of technology and young people, and Pakistan has a growing population of young people, many of whom are excited by technology.”

Jehan Ara President P@SHA

“You simply can’t grow an organization without getting things wrong at times. I consider challenges a way to break barriers, to reinvent and transform.”

Taher G Sachak CMO and MD, EFU Life Assurance LTD

“The connected world necessitates that we move beyond planning media in isolation and think integration across platforms, devices and screens.”

Farhan Qureshi CEO, Starcom Mediavest

TALKING HEADS

Atif Aslam

Dr Umar Saif

Fahd Husain

A World of Tomorrow Conference by the Beaconhouse Group

Imtiaz Alam

Haiya Bokhari

Kami Sid

Fauzia Viqar

Kalyan Singh

Jimmy Nelson

Jamshed Kazi

Jugnu Mohsin

Hammad Naqi Khan

Farzana Jan

Hajra Khan

Fawad Afzal Khan

IA Rehman

Uzair Khan

Kamil Khan Mumtaz Jibran Nasir

Kasim M Kasuri

Judges R-L_Romana Abdullah, Amaar Ikhlas, Naeem Zamindaar, Mohsin Termezy, Asad Azfar and Yasser Bashir

FinTech Disrupt Challenge 2016

by Karandaaz Pakistan and Lums Center for Entrepreneurship

Samar Hasan, Head of Comms. announces the Finalists

Ricult Pakistan over joyed for winning the challenge

Paysys Winners of the challenge

Ali Sarfraz CEO Karandaaz Pakistan, announcing the winners

Publishex - Winners of the challenge

Ricult Pakistan Winners of the challenge

Miriam of Galla shows excitment after being shortlisted in the finalists Zohaib Jawed, Analyst DFS, Karandaaz moderates the challenge

Ali Sarfraz presents momento to Mohisn Termesy of TPS

Amna Mishal, Senior Communication Analyst facilitating and regestring teams

Qasif Shahid, CEO Finjas talks about Director DFS, Rehan Akhtar Congratulates Ricult Pakistan on winning

Nadeem Hussain talking about Unbundling Commercial Banks

OPINION

Sadyia Babar

time work and compromise on their earnings, once the criterion is met. Hence, their earnings don't match their true potential. In such cases it is even more important to know how to invest your money safely and earn good returns. ot many educated women would want to concede to As the financial world is getting increasingly dynamic and that question. But then why is it that so many women complex, in my opinion, the best way for women to become are insecure when it comes to investing? Especially more responsible and take the right financial decisions is when they pay the bills, cut the college tuition through self education or getting advised by a trusted expert cheques and are the ones to shop for better deals? I on basic money concepts and financial decisions. think women lack a great deal of confidence when it I think for women who want to invest, but don’t know how comes to investing mainly because of their aversion to get started, they should start investing in plain vanilla into finance plus, they think it is men who are better at come products as they are simple to understand and will give maths and analysis. them regular income. The safest could be a long-term route, Take the example of my friend, Sana. She works in the HR department of a being a low-cost, diversified portfolio. Gold is a good choice reputable multinational company and takes home a decent salary. She often as investing in gold can also boost the portfolio. It serves as juggles between family and work which leaves her little time to manage her a safe haven against volatile markets. Another option could finances. While she brings home a decent package, she often discusses about be investing in bonds like national saving bonds as they are her inability to invest because she is not at all confident on some of the basic considered a good investment for risk-averse. Investing in things like how to save, where to save and how she can grow her money, and blue chip companies stocks is again a great idea, which gives so on. I can't say whether her gender has something to do with her fear or her regular dividend income like Fauji Fertilizer that has a hislack of knowledge. Her money is lying idle in her savings bank account tory of giving 4 dividends a year. But if you are new to infetching her very minimum savings rate, when inflation numbers are drastivesting you might not know how to pick stocks, for example, cally increasing. She prefers her husband to take the lead when it comes to then you can put your money into mutual funds. A mutual managing money. Many women find themselves in the same situation as fund is a pool of investment created by an asset management Sana. Though women are actively participating in the workforce in a major company to make it easier for investors to invest their money way and are earning good income, they do not take much interest in managwithout having to do research for themselves or even having ing their money. I feel women also find that there are interruptions due to large sums of money. They then take the money from all marriage, child birth, transfer of spouse, ailing elders in the family who need their investors, conduct their own research, and then invest constant care, and the list can go on and on. This leads to women leaving the the money in a variety of different investments.Once women workforce from time to time. They look for flexible work timings or partget comfortable with the concept of savings and investments, they can be gradually exposed to equity related products. As objectives of every woman varies, it is important for her to make financial decisions based on her financial situation, life stage, risk-taking ability and her goals.

Sadyia Babar As we see, married women generally have a second income from their spouse so they can afford to take is a part time business more risks and invest in medium to long term products for their long term needs like retirement, child eduexecutive and a full cation.

Those unmarried would generally be investing to take care of expenses or cash flows and accordtime homemaker. ingly, may invest in relatively less riskier and regular income products. A single parent may also need to factor in the future security for herself and her dependents, and hence may invest in extremely safe products and possibly also consider buying protection for herself. I strongly feel that every woman should get over the aversion to money, and understand the basics of handling finances. For this, read newspapers, magazines or websites. Involve a good financial advisor rather than just relying on family members for advice. This will help in avoiding any unforeseen problems in the future. Women, if you still haven’t taken enough control of your own financial health, start now! Better late than never.

Are we an insecure lot?

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PERSONAL FINANCE