CPEC's softer side

Earlier this week, this column inquired how Pakistani firms and individuals should prepare for the countrys Chinese future. Some of the answers to that question are downright obvious; others arent.

The obvious ones include learning the language of the Chinese; this applies both to students and to businessmen and working professionals. The age of Anglo-Saxon economic domination is cooling down, and the age of China-led global economy is just starting to heat up. But simply learning the Chinese language wont be enough; understanding their culture and way of doing business is equally important. And that demands a paradigm shift from the Anglo-Saxon mindset that the people of region have been accustomed to since the partition of British India.

For small and medium entrepreneurs, there is an opportunity to set up Chinese language centres across Pakistans major cities; for universities, there is an opportunity to develop executive learning products to be marketed to middle and senior level business managers and professionals to help them understand the Chinese mindset a la the finance for non-finance professionals certification programmes. Universities can also pace up their efforts to develop exchange programmes with leading Chinese universities across a host of disciplines.

Then there are some answers that are not so obvious; such as the need to translate Pakistani products and services into Chinese language, and to set up institutions that offer official conversion of the technical, industrial and measurement standards into those which the Chinese use while tendering or otherwise contracting out their work. Failure to do the latter can risk excluding Pakistani firms from getting contracts from Chinese firms even in cases when they can meet the price and quality required by the Chinese.

But thats for the businesses and businessmen. For the younger generation that is pursuing graduation or technical/vocational skills in fields not related to hardcore sciences (e.g. medical and engineering studies), there are a host of business sectors that they can explore in the wake of CPEC-related spill over.

The list of those new business sectors is long, but there are a few that stand out. For instance, it is rather unfortunate that a country with more than a 1000-km of coastline still hasnt developed its maritime sector both in terms of ports, shipping and ancillary services, and in terms of fishing. Likewise, is the case of mines and minerals, and supply chain and logistics. A scoping study will better reveal the state of human and institutional capital in these sectors in Pakistan. But merely searching the website of Pakistans leading universities gives a strong indication that the country lacks adequate number of professionals in these sectors.

Turning this dynamic around is going to be a long-drawn exercise involving the government as well as the private sector. Expecting war-footing steps from the government is probably too much to ask; but there has to be a Babar Ali around who can set up educational and technical institutes in these sectors. The answer to that may depend on whether the likes of Babar Ali are interested in taking a bet on these sectors.