Where have all the exporters gone?

Three days into his trip at the four-day long, seventh Expo Pakistan 2012, Mirza Ali a procurement director from Mydin Mohammad Holdings looks harrowed and ready to call it a day. "I have been visiting the Expo for the past three days but so far I have had little luck in finding manufacturers of towels, bed linens and other textiles" he complained.
Other foreign businessmen, defying the Western media blitz against Pakistan to visit Karachi are also less than impressed by the variety of exhibitors at the trade fair. The Executive Director of EconSave, a cash and carry giant, Lai Sak Coon said that like many other foreign delegates, he had come to Karachi with the task of obtaining competitive rates on textile goods, sporting equipment, surgical goods and leather products.
"There are only a few textile players and hardly any manufacturers of sports and surgical goods so the rates that they offer are not competitive. There are more third-party vendors and agents at the event than actual manufacturers so its not easy to find suitable deals," said Coon.
There are some positive developments to report from the Expo. For starters the number of foreign delegates passing through the gates of the Expo Centre is larger than ever before. The turnout from Malaysia, Japan and the UK is particularly impressive.
But the concerns voiced by some of the foreigners allude to other hurdles to business, not directly linked with the organizers efforts. Due to the debilitating security situation and the consequent plethora of travel advisories for foreigners, most businessmen have not ventured beyond the Expo.
Jack Soo, who is on his fifth visit to Pakistan and has formed business ties in Larkana and other parts of the country highlighted that "getting around is not very easy for foreigners in the country. You cannot simply hope on a train and get to the textile hub of the country or go looking for sports goods in Sialkot".
For its part, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan has done well to organise the event, arrange B2B meetings on the sidelines and get a few new MoUs under its belt through the KCCI. However, the experiences of prospective importers from the country highlight the need to do more, in light of the peculiar circumstances facing domestic businesses.
For starters, similar exhibitions and trade fairs need to be arranged in Punjab where a vast majority of manufacturers, particularly small and medium sized manufacturers are located. Then there is a need to facilitate these manufacturers in coming to Karachi for the main annual event.
The use of videoconferencing and other communications technologies could also provide an affordable means whereby manufacturers in remote parts can flaunt their products to prospective buyers from abroad.
Just the fact that TDAP has been able to put together the four-day event successfully without any untoward incidents is an achievement given the testing times the country is going through. However, it is also a harsh reality that businesses in Pakistan are relatively disadvantaged not just by the security situation, but also by the exorbitant costs of inter-city travel. For this purpose, some out of the box thinking is needed to get the exporters where the international buyers are.