CONTENTS 18
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12 Lockdowns again and Agent 007 this week in Pakistan’s business and economics Twitterverse 14 All you need to know about government prize bonds
17 17 TikTok is a data collection service pretending to be a social network Hamza Nizam Kazi 18 Lahore's vertical growth gambit 24 The catch 22 of working in a maledominated profession Sehar Raothar
27 27 How big is Pakistan’s bridal dress business? And why are wedding dresses so expensive? 31 With livestock shopping at an all time low this Eid, leather manufacturer are feeling the heat
Profit
Executive Editor: Babar Nizami l Managing Editor: Farooq Tirmizi l Joint Editor: Yousaf Nizami Reporters: Ariba Shahid l Babar Khan Javed l Taimoor Hassan Abdullah Niazi l Meiryum Ali l Shahab Omer Chief of Staff & Product Manager: Muhammad Faran Bukhari Regional Heads of Marketing: Muddasir Alam (Khi) l Zulfiqar Butt (Lhr) l Mudassir Iqbal (Isl) Layout: Ahmad Salahuddin l Photographers: Zubair Mehfooz & Imran Gillani l Business, Economic & Financial news by 'Pakistan Today' Contact: profit@pakistantoday.com.pk
Readers Say
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HOW TO CONTACT
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SMEs want ownership to remain with them. PE wants a significant and controlling stake in the business against their investment. The two wants/desires are at odds with each other. Apropos: Pakistan’s private equity potential Asad Asif, Website
should be linked to CNIC number, payments related to utilities and cellular networks must be recognized against the CNIC number as SSN or NTN number. Apropos: What’s your credit history? Ahsan, Website
The biggest issue in Pakistani real estate sector is the information. A buyer is not able to find the real owner of the property easily. The Government should announce a new database for all properties, where each property must be allocated a serial number (Such as Makani Number in UAE). Each property should be traceable online, and the details of the real owner should be available with the land department. The Government can collect the fee’s online for buyers who want to use this service of verification. It will generate an income stream for the Government as well as boost the confidence of buyers with regards to the authenticity of the property they are interested in. It is a win win. Also, the bank transfer charges and withdrawal charges on cash must be abolished. The Taxation should be only on the Capital gain and not on the complete value of the property if sold within two years of purchase. Apropos: As the government continues to back construction, real estate is hustling Ahsan, Website
No surprises there. Samsung has priced itself out of the affordability of the vast majority of Pakistanis, and there are already plenty of Chinese companies with a presence in Pakistan giving it tough competition. Lesser sales means lesser incentive to invest in setting up assembly facilities in Pakistan. Apropos: Samsung is coming to Pakistan, Dawood clarifies Asif Ali, Website
This story reminds me of a very old interview that Mian Mansha once gave. He said back then that ''If we need...petroleum coal, not natural coal, we should be able to get it from Gujarat. So far we have been getting it from Houston.'' Read today, the interview is almost quite insightful. Apropos: It might be time to reconsider IndoPak trading ties @IqraYusuf12, Twitter
Let us propagate this news among everyone in Pakistan and see how the general public likes it when they find out about this snub. Trust me, we will survive without Samsung in this country. There are already plenty of alternatives that are as good if not better, not to mention they are cheaper and happy to be assembled in Pakistan. A boycott all over Pakistan of all Samsung products is what is needed to teach these companies a lesson and show them we are not to be trifled with. There are plenty of opportunities we can cash in on. The only reason automobile manufacturers like Honda, Kia, and Toyotta have not started their export in the Middle East is simply because they need to alter the side of steering. Apropos: Samsung is coming to Pakistan, Dawood clarifies Muhammad Shafatullah, Website
This is an excellent and indeed very important article written by Shahab Omar that has been published by Profit. It is practical in its approach, and brave in the way it tackles a difficult topic. We are just hurting ourselves by mixing trade into politics. Both can co-exist independently of the other. Besides, at the end of the day, when trade is affected by politics, who is it that suffers? It is the final consumer on both sides of the border. Apropos: It might be time to reconsider Indo-Pak trading ties @DinshawAvari, Twitter Pakistan’s banking industry needs to grow and bring international standard banking to Pakistan. Credit history or Credit Score system must be introduced in Pakistan which
Allow only those companies in Pakistan who also support us in various ways, and set different conditions for them that will help our economy instead of making huge profits for just them. The time has long gone where we sit and let them do whatever they want just to get scraps. If they do not want to come to our land, why are we giving them any business at all? Samsung can come here and start assembling or they can take their phones and leave Pakistan. Apropos: Samsung is coming to Pakistan, Dawood clarifies Waqar Ali, Website
Mr Razaq Dawood has now clarified and said that a section of the press has misquoted him. In fact he said Samsung has changed its decision and agreed to invest in Pakistan which Samsung had previously denied. Apropos: Samsung is coming to Pakistan, Dawood clarifies Mansoor Ahmed, Website
COMMENTS
IN BRIEF Rs 4 billion:
The arrival of millions of tourists to Malakand and Hazara Divisions from all over the country during Eid-ul-Azha vacations generated huge employment opportunities and an estimated Rs4 billion in revenue.
A statement has appeared in a section of the media, wherein I have been misquoted regarding the setting up of a mobile phone manufacturing unit by Samsung in Pakistan. I wish to clarify that I had stated that Samsung has changed its earlier decision & now has agreed to come to Pakistan as a joint venture with their local partner Lucky Motor Corporation for producing Samsung mobile devices in Pakistan soon” Advisor on Commerce Razak Dawood
The government on Tuesday approved a new spectrum policy for commercial auction of next generation mobile and internet service after which connectivity of mobile phones and broadband facility will improve in urban as well as far-flung areas of the country. The decision was taken at a meeting of the federal cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The State Bank of Pakistan has decided to maintain the policy rate at 7 per cent for the next two months, the central bank’s governor, Reza Baqir, announced. This is the fifth consecutive time that the central bank has decided to maintain the policy rate.
$2 billion:
Pakistan’s exports of information technology grew by 47.4 per cent to cross the $2 billion mark for the first time in the country’s history in the outgoing fiscal year. In absolute terms, the IT exports reached $2.12bn in 2020-21 as against $1.44bn in the preceding year
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Sunday operated the first flight from Multan to Skardu. As per local media reports, the first flight left from Multan airport with 167 passengers on board. The move will give easy access to the people of South Punjab to the northern areas of the country. Emirates has extended the flight suspension from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to Dubai until July 28 in line with the UAE government’s directives. UAE nationals, Golden Visa holders and members of diplomatic missions who comply with updated Covid-19 protocols, however, are exempt.
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Lockdowns again and Agent 007
this week in Pakistan’s business and economics twitterverse
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s covid cases begin to peak again in Pakistan with the federal and Sindh governments locking horns over who is to blame for the abysmal conditions in Karachi where the positivity rate has gone up to nearly 30%, there is much to discuss. We look at lives versus livelihoods, as well as the nature of twitter and our very dapper governor of the SBP, Raza Baqie. Ariba Shahid brings you all this and more in this week’s roundup of Pakistan’s business and economics twitterverse.
Here’s my CNIC copy again
Whatsapp forwards
While Zohad doesn’t specifically mention work whatsapp groups, we feel the same about work groups where people exchange pleasantries and forwards. Besides, why would you guys want a whatsapp group with people you can barely stand? Thank God for the mute button. {Editor’s note: For those of you that do not know this yet, Whatsapp has updated its ‘archive’ function so that when messages are sent to chats that have been archived, they no longer show up on your main list of whatsapp chats. You can essentially create a second whatsapp of undesirable chats that you only check every now and then.}
Be smart and invest
The private sector is crowded out. Why? Because banks are merely government lending machines. Low risk appetites remain a factor but how can anyone ever compete with the government? What incentive do banks have? Ammar sums it up well, and explains how banks merely exist to lend to the government. We’d like to add that they exist to torture us by asking for CNICs too, and also for hording the copies of our CNICs we give to them.
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We encourage more people to invest in the PSX. It is the only way we can have a vibrant capital market and better growth. Listen to Najam, open up a bank account and invest.
Twitter is fun … most of the time
The best part about twitter is also the worst part about twitter - anyone can (almost) say anything. Yes, there might be community guidelines but if you see a graph and want to say 2+2=5 nobody is very well going to stop you. As business and economics people, the sanctity of numbers means something to us and it is frustrating to see this kind of opinion making going on. Still, what can be done about it? Imagine yourself standing in the middle of the road and screaming out your thoughts. Anyone can respond. Just brace yourself and hope you’re in a saner neighborhood. That in essence is Twitter, and one thing is for certain - you never know what the other person is going to be like on Twitter. Despite that, Twitter is a fun place, so fun that we feature it in our magazine. Of course, the collection of tweets you see here every week are curated after significant sanitation and cherry picking. Some of the darker recesses of the twitterverse … Well, let us just say they are strange navigation even for those of us most experienced in matters of social media.
Still choosing between lives and livelihoods
I don’t think you can time virus cases with public holidays. However, it is a fact that the financial repercussions of a lockdown followed by public holidays will not fare well for people. However, what is one to do when it’s a question of lives and livelihoods? Hang on folks, we might be having this debate periodically for a long time to come.
Dapper governor
Stay inside - for the economy
Lockdowns are for all. This is not the time for a potluck. Stay indoors so that we control the spread so we don’t go back into lockdown. Do it for the daily wage earners.
Change conundrum
No one does better hisab kitab than desi moms. Also, are you frustrated that everything is in multiples of 5 and 10. As a result of this, inflation always results in prices going up by the next multiple of 5 or 10 because providing change remains a hassle.
Please do not think that I am self obsessed but seldom does one come up with artwork that is able to become NFT level. I feel this is something that is. Meet Agent Baqir 007%. It’s a play on Dr Baqir being called an agent for God knows what reason, and the fact that he’s kept the policy rate at 7% longer than any of us had anticipated. If none of that matters to you, just look how dapper the SBP Governor looks in a tuxedo. If nothing else, this should be making the news
SOCIAL MEDIA ROUNDUP
By Ariba Shahid and Abdullah Niazi
F
or anyone that has ever solicited advice in Pakistan about saving or investing small sums of money, chances are they have been told to invest in prize bonds. Prize bonds are a unique method of investment that are essentially lotteries backed by
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the government. Offered by National Savings under the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), prize bonds have been around for decades and are considered an incredibly safe form of investment. Essentially, it does very much work like buying a lottery ticket, except in case you don’t win, you still don’t lose any money. Let us say you go to the state bank and give them Rs 100, and in return they give you a prize bond worth Rs 100. Now, every three months,
the government draws lots to see if any prize bonds win any money. If you happen to win, then you can cash in your prize bond and collect your winnings. If you do not win anything, you can either wait for the next draw or simply turn in the prize bond to the bank in exchange for the Rs 100 you paid for it. Since for the longest time prize bonds have not been registered, you could trade them easily and even use them as cash. Sounds nice and simple, doesn’t it? Well,
it isn’t. Almost everyone in Pakistan with a pretense towards investment and the money to do it will have bought a prize bond at some point to try their luck at winning. Despite this, understanding of what exactly a prize bond is, why the government issues them, and how they work is severely limited. In short, prize bonds are financial instruments issued by the government. The government issues these bonds to raise money whenever it needs it. The only loss that the investor possibly makes is if their prize bond does not get drawn, and the value of the rupee falls in the meantime. This is why prize bonds are primarily for those people that do not fear losing the real value or purchasing power of money they’re saving and would rather take a chance at winning a lottery. The entire structure behind prize bonds is a behemoth, with millions of prize bonds being bought, sold, traded, and claimed. There is a lot more behind this whole structure than meets the eye. For small investors that are looking for a safe way to possibly make some more money on top of their money, prize bonds are safe, but are they a smart idea considering rapid inflation and devaluation of money? More importantly, what are the chances that buying bonds will actually result in winning a prize? Profit explains the hows, whats, and whys of government issues prize bonds.
Details of Pakistani Prize Bonds
Let us begin by getting a few basics straight. The government issues prize bonds because it needs to collect money, and it has been doing so for decades. To make sure that the bonds do not go unsold, the government issues different bonds of different denominations in different series. You buy these bonds in the hopes that your bond number will be picked in a lucky draw and you will win a cash prize on your bond. The government issues these bonds in different ‘series’ that they mark by letters. This means the first series of prize bonds the government launches would be series ‘A.’ In each series the government issues 999,999 bonds one short of a million each time. To understand what a ‘series’ is, think of a series as a racetrack with a maximum capacity for the number of competitors. Each racetrack can house 999,999 prize bonds that are in the running for prizes. Out of these 999,000 only a specified number will win prizes. This means that simultaneously the government can be running different series or racetracks with 999,999 competing prize bonds on each track. Let us, for example, assume that a person buys a Rs 100 prize bond with the serial number C350000. This means that the prize bond
is part of series ‘C’ of prize bonds issued by the federal government (which would make it the third such series) and that the prize bond is number 350,000 out of the 999,999 prize bonds issued in that series. Now, if this person wants, they can go to the bank and redeem their prize bonds for the Rs 100 they paid for it anytime they want. However, if they wait, there is the chance that they might win a prize on the bond. How does the awarding of these prizes work? Taking this example forward, let us say that the government needed money so it decided to launch a new series of prize bonds worth Rs 100. This will mean that 999,999 new Rs 100 prize bonds are entering into circulation and will be up for grabs. Now, out of these prize bonds, a fixed number will win prizes in a lucky draw that is held every three months. There are three categories of prizes: first prize, second prize, and third prize. For the Rs 100 bonds, the first prize is worth Rs 700,000 and is won by only one ticket in the entire series. This means that out of the 999,999 prize bonds that were bought, one of them will give a return of Rs 700,000 on the Rs 100 prize bond. The second prize is worth Rs 250,000 and only three out of the 999,999 prize bonds will have a prize of that amount. The third prize is far more common, with 1199 prize bonds being worth the Rs 1000 third prize. These are some of the fundamentals of how prize bonds work. Out of the 999,999 prize bonds issued in a single series, on each draw at least 1203 prize bonds will win a prize. On the next draw, 1203 more will win prizes. Now, the way that the draw works is interesting and can (theoretically) produce some fantastical results. Remember, the 999,999 prize bonds we have been talking about are all in a single series. At this point, there are numerous series going around that the government has issued for different denominations of prize bonds. In our example, we had assumed a person had a Rs 100 prize bond from series C that had the serial number 350000. In the lucky draw that takes place every three months, numbers are drawn out for each prize. One number will be drawn out for first prize, three for second, and 1199 for the third prize. If the number 350,000 is drawn for first prize, it means that all of the bonds with the serial number 350,000 in all of the series for prize bonds of that value will get the first prize. Essentially, along with prize bond C350000, prize bonds A35000, and B350000 will also win the Rs 700,000 first prize in their respective series. Similarly, three numbers will be drawn for the second prize, and 1199 numbers will be drawn for the third prize. No matter which series you belong to, if you have a prize bond
with the winning number on it, you will get the prize that quarter. If you win a prize on your bond, you can simply go to the State Bank and they will give you the money, stamp your prize bond, and give it back to you. While it is highly unlikely, if the same number is picked again in the next quarter, it means you will win a prize on the same prize bond again. It is more likely for this to happen after a few years where the same number is drawn again. Conceptually, this means that no prize bond ever really goes to waste. If a person waits long enough, their number will eventually be drawn as per the laws of probability. That could happen in a few draws or it could take years. The only downside is that it is possible the prize is so long in coming that when it does, money has lost its value to the extent that you end up making an overall loss because of inflation.
How do you get your hands on a prize bond?
T
his part is quite easy. You simply go to any SBP Banking Services Corporation (BSC) office, designated commercial bank branch, or National Savings Centers and buy them. All you have to do is submit an application form with a copy of your CNIC. Once you’ve bought the prize bonds, you keep them with you and wait for the quarterly draw. The prize bond draw itself is conducted by a committee constituted by CDNS, and the event is open to the general public. The winning prize bonds are drawn through hand operated draw machines, which are operated by special children in front of committee members and the general public. The machines can also be inspected by the general public before the draw to make sure there is no tampering. If you win a prize, you have to fill out a claim form, submit a copy of your CNIC, and the winning prize bond. You can claim smaller prizes at SBP BSC offices, Commercial Banks, and National Savings Centers. However, bigger prizes are only claimable at SBP BSC offices. After you win, the face value is credited into your account and the SBP keeps the bond. Once you get your prize, you can get your bond back after it has been stamped. If the bond number is drawn again, you can win a prize on the same bond again.
What are your chances of winning?
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et’s simplify this and take the example of a Rs 100 prize bond. Let’s say you only have one bond. In every series, there will be one first prize
PERSONAL FINANCE
winner of Rs 700,000, three second prize winners of Rs 200,000 each, and 1199 third prize winners of Rs 1000 each. There are 999,999 bonds in a series. This means there is a 0.0001% chance of winning the first prize, a 0.0003% chance of winning second prize, 0.1199% chance of winning third or 0.1203% chance of winning any prize. Your chances improve based on the number of bonds in a series you hold. For instance, if you hold 5000 bonds worth Rs 100 each in a series, your chances of winning any prize rise to 6.01%. We’ve attached a table to show you the odds of winning for each bond.
“Big investors invest in huge amounts and buy more prize bonds; therefore their probability of winning prize money is greater than the individuals who purchase a single prize bond,” is an answer on the SBP FAQs list for the question, “Why the small investors don’t win prize and big prizes goes to big investors?” Some people are trying to crack the code to determine which bonds may win the next draws. The authenticity of these
methods and whether they actually work becomes questionable considering the nature of the draw. As per Profit’s analysis, by dividing the amount paid out to winners in a year (the total of one draw x 4) by the total amount raised, we get 10%. For a country like Pakistan that usually has a high interest rate, there are times when the cost of borrowing for prize bonds is less than the benchmark interest rates, or times like now when the cost of borrowing is higher.
Getting rid of bigger denominations
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n the 30th of May this year, the federal government announced that it had extended the last date for encashment, conversion and redemption of prize bonds of denomination of Rs25,000 and Rs40,000 until Sept 30, 2021. Currently, there are four denominations of
In the lucky draw that takes place every three months, numbers are drawn out for each prize. One number will be drawn out for first prize, three for second, and 1199 for the third prize. If the number 350,000 is drawn for first prize, it means that all of the bonds with the serial number 350,000 in all of the series for prize bonds of that value will get the first prize. Essentially, along with prize bond C350000, prize bonds A35000, and B350000 will also win the Rs 700,000 first prize in their respective series 16
prize bonds in circulation: Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 750, and Rs 1500. There is a very particular reason for larger prize bonds being discontinued. In February 2017, Profit had reported that ill-gotten money earned from illicit businesses by smugglers, abductors, drug peddlers, blackmailers, and others was once again being whitened by the decades-old method of purchasing high value prize bonds from bond winners. The way this scheme worked was that people that wanted to launder money would pay prize bond winners more money than they had won, and would then use the prize bonds to collect money from the government and claim that is how they acquired it - giving them a verifiable money trail. Back then, it had been discovered that a man won 135 times on the country’s prize bond schemes in a short period of 29 weeks. In order to exit the FATF Grey List, the government has come up with various ways to control money laundering and financing of terrorism. As a result, bigger denominations of prize bonds have been discontinued starting with Rs 40,000 and then moving on to Rs 25,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 7,500. This is because Prize Bonds are bearer instruments and not registered. Whoever has the bond, owns the bond. These bonds often change hands multiple times and are also sometimes used as a form of payment just like cash. Similarly, if you lose a bond there is not much you can do about it. The SBP FAQs state, “Prize bond is a bearer instrument. Its ownership belongs to the holder of the instrument just like currency notes.” As a result, the undocumented economy largely relied on bigger bonds to keep their money off the radar or conduct transactions. The only time they’d have to disclose a bond in their ownership would be if they claimed a prize themselves. Similarly, individuals that do not wish to disclose their source of income are also often found purchasing bonds from bond winners and paying them more than the prize they won for the bond. They would then use this bond to legitimize their money and make it white. An example of this is when a man claimed to have 135 times within a span of 29 weeks. Either he was extremely lucky, had cracked the code, or was turning his money into white money. Keeping that in mind, the bigger denomination bonds were discontinued. Holders have time to encash their bonds and any prizes they may have won by the end of this year. The government has also issued Premium Prize bonds where the holder has to be registered. In addition to the probability of winning a prize, the holder will get a biannual fixed profit. n With input from Ammar Habib.
PERSONAL FINANCE
OPINION
Hamza Nizam Kazi
TikTok is a data collection service pretending to be a social network
brim with vulgar content and there is no way to stop it. It is viewed directly or indirectly by millions of users either intentionally or unintentionally. However, banning these social media apps on the basis of such content without blocking the material on it creates a mockery of the notices and tweets that are published by regulators. If one video/post is not posted/published on one online platform the same is posted on the other platform that is available and gets the same likes and followings thus creating a Streisand effect. So if you ban TikTok, someone can simply use a VPN to post something there and then another person with a VPN can find it on TikTok and post it to twitter or facebook. At the end of the day, the content is still out there, and because of the ban it might actually foster more interest. And at the end of the day, it makes the regulator look silly because it becomes apparent that the people that are supposed to be regulating social media do not understand it at all. Regulators in different countries and especially here in Pakistan need to realize that these social media apps developed in nother day, another ban. The PTA banned TikTok China have different laws and regulations under which they are again on July 21st, 2021 on the basis that there is the developed. There are strict government rules and regulations inside continuous presence of inappropriate content on the China where there is censorship for users over its platforms to online platform and its failure to take such content comply with local laws and regulations. Speaking of which, when down. This step has been taken under the Prevention these apps are internationally marketed and move beyond China of Electronic Crimes Act 2016. It is a step that has been the playing field becomes vast and the censorship medium is kind taken so many times now it is exhausting. of disabled. Consequently, people have vastly different experiences The question that arises is that whilst the same content is when using these apps and posting content online. available on different platforms, TikTok seems to be an easy target to Here, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority being the suspend and ban. Is this decision taken in haste? Or are the millions of regulator, needs to step up and have a censorship framework and people on this platform denied access because they are not considered policy which needs to be either highlighted to these companies or particularly important? implemented through local operators. Imposing a ban citing vulgar If one considers carefully, in fact, there is no need to even considcontent on the platform and removing millions of videos may not be er it carefully. Just the slightest attention, the most sparing of thoughts, a long-term viable option and may not hold for long. Despite being a bare glance will tell you that all social media apps are filled to the an Islamic republic and constitution highlights that way of life shall be following the fundamentals of Islam the overall censorship should be across the board on all social media apps having such vulgar content. On the other hand, citing “national security concerns” in respect of such a Hamza Nizam Kazi ban may have a different viewpoint altogether. These social media apps, particularly Tikis a corporate and technology Tok’s parent company ByteDance, are headquartered in Beijing and with strict government lawyer having experience controls over companies the Chinese government could compel them to share personal data of foreign nationals/ users. This area could possibly be a scenario for the local regulators and in the telecom industry and economic and political decision-makers to ponder over. advising digital startups. Furthermore, considering the geopolitics of the region and the growing influence of He can be reached on China in Pakistan, does Pakistan really want to get in this 5th generation warfare by banning social media apps on the basis of security concerns is the question for the higher-ups. With hamza.n.kazi@gmail.com the Pegasus scandal round the corner and cybersecurity concerns at their peak, this can open for advice on legal and a plethora of questions on the cybersecurity of Pakistan. regulatory issues pertaining Pakistan having the best tech minds needs to up its antics with a comprehensive cybersecurity policy and need to have the various applications scrutinized before allowing them to the telecom sector and since banning and suspension of one app over and over again is a temporary solution and not electronic media. a permanent one.
Instead of banning it every few months, the PTA needs to come up with a proper censorship framework
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COMMENT
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I
By Shahab Omer and Abdullah Niazi
n August 1947, a single propeller plane landed on a thin airstrip in an aerodrome in Lahore’s Walton Airport. On board the plane was Muhammad Ali Jinnah, already known by then as Quaid e Azam. This was not Jinnah’s first visit to Lahore, in fact, it was not even his most monumental. It had been in this very city that the first stone of the Pakistani nation state was laid by Jinnah and his Muslim League in the ‘Lahore resolution’ of 1940. But the landing of that plane in 1947 was significant for another reason - it was the first time Jinnah was going to step into Lahore since the partition of the subcontinent. The moment must have been a poignant one. Lahore was one of the many cities that could have gone to either India or Pakistan. Some would argue that the city went to Pakistan because of its greater Muslim population and its status as a former Capital of the Mughal Empire. The reality was less thought out. Lahore was becoming a part of Pakistan simply because of the line drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliff across the Indian subcontinent. For better or for worse, once that line was drawn, all of Lahore - its people, its culture, its economic and social future - were all tied with the state of Pakistan. The Lahore Mr Jinnah landed in was starkly different from the one we have in front of us today. For starters, Walton Airport at that time was practically in the middle of nowhere and surrounded mostly by flatlands and grass fields. Today, it is barely a kilometre away from the hustle and bustle of what is considered the ‘center point’ of Lahore. Back then, it was the only airport in Lahore and had been founded by a group of philanthropist aviators in 1930.
REAL ESTATE
CBDs are now being recognized as areas with high economic activity, they provide an appropriate ecosystem and infrastructure supporting the livelihood of city dwellers. Under the concept of CBDs, launching the first LEED certified (LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed, Punjab Minister for Housing, Urban Development & Public Health Engineering
Today, it is in the process of being ripped down and replaced by high-rise commercial and residential buildings. Don’t believe us? Just take one look at the Lahore Central Business Districts Development Authority’s (LCBDDA) ‘Lahore Prime’ project - a mega high-rise development project with favourable by-laws backed completely by the Punjab government. Essentially, the Punjab government wants to knock down the Walton Airport and hand it over to real estate developers to make both commercial and residential high-rise real estate in one of the most central locations in the city. On the 5th of August, an auction will take place for plots in this area where private developers can make a bid to get their land and begin building their high-rise buildings. And it isn’t just this one airport - the government also has its sights on Wahdat Colony and Railways Colony. These projects and others like them tell us one thing and one thing alone: Lahore has come face to face with its vertical reckoning, and the Punjab government is all chips in. There are, however, a few hiccups. For starters, why exactly is it that the government is now stepping in and deciding they want in on high-rise mega projects, and what are the areas they are selecting to undertake these projects on. More importantly than that is the question of whether Lahoris will bite and make this successful. The final question is a more theoretical one - if this gambit by the Punjab government is successful, what does it mean for the rest of Pakistan? And more specifically, considering they are trying their level best to turn Lahore into a feasible ‘central business district,’ what does it mean for Pakistan’s current financial capital, Karachi?
Taking to the skies why we need high-rise culture
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he transition of the Walton Airport from airport to business district is one that has its opponents. For one there are the aviation enthusiasts
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that will be losing their flying club. Then there are the heritage geeks that will bemoan the loss of a well hidden relic of colonial times. And while it is not the place of Profit to judge whether heritage is more important than business, we must urge these detractors to look closely and realise that the transition is actually a very natural one. Our story begins in 1930, by which time the first airplane had been invented nearly three decades ago and after a lot of trial and error humankind had successfully taken to the skies, and the phenomena of air travel was quickly becoming representative of the ‘new age.’ In 1930, when a group of aviation enthusiasts acquired 157.87 acres of land from the Forest Department, and cleared trees from the forestland to construct a green airfield from where they started their flight operations. The green airfield was eventually replaced by a concrete runway which was used both in the second world war for combat planes, and for commercial flights up until 1960 - when the Allama Iqbal Airport was constructed in Lahore. From then on, the Walton Airport would be used as a training ground for commercial pilots and the Lahore Flying Club. But air travel is old news now, and Lahore is once again taking to the skies, albeit in a different manner. Because when we say Lahore is taking to the skies, we mean it is finally beginning to expand vertically in the shape of high rise buildings. For the longest time, vertical expansion has been something Lahoris have avoided like the plague. Somehow, the character of the city has been such that it has resisted the allure of apartment living and saving on space. Karachi is still the largest city in Pakistan, but by some measures, the greater Lahore metropolitan area may now be almost equal in size, if not already somewhat larger. Yet for most of its history, Lahore’s residents have shunned the notion of vertical expansion of their city’s size. Lahore has expanded horizontally with housing societies cropping up in areas far flung from the city center. But things are changing for Lahore.
In recent years, there seems to be more willingness among people not just to live in apartment buildings in Lahore, but also among investors to want to put money into high rise apartment buildings for residence, as well as megastructures meant for commercial purposes. And we are not just talking malls when we say high rise commercial buildings - we mean office buildings and business parks as well. Why is this so? The answer is very simple: Pakistan desperately needs thriving urban centers. Cities, after all, have an important role to play in the economic fortunes of the people that live in them. Pakistan’s urban population is currently 37% of the entire population, but it contributes a massive 60% to the national GDP. While those in the rural areas producing agricultural products are doing massively important work in terms of providing food security and producing actual products, there are so many in major cities in the service sector that are contributing to the economy. However, if they are to continue doing this effectively, they need to have comfortable living conditions, healthcare facilities, as well as recreational facilities. Similarly, for those people that want to set up businesses that will employ the people that want to work in the services sector, then they will need places to conduct their business, offices, and centers with friendly by-laws. That is essentially what the Punjab government wants to build with its ideas for central business districts. “We need to give comfortable spaces to the urban population to work in. If we are to foster economic growth and activity, then we must encourage it. We need to provide a suitable ecosystem, and infrastructure to support people doing business,” says Imran Amin, CEO of the LCBDDA. “Our goal is to make Lahore a commercial economic city. The CBD in Lahore will definitely play a vital role in economic growth with attracting people seeking business and job opportunities. We do not want to limit ourselves to just providing office buildings and being done with it - a central business district in my conception provides exceptional
We need to give comfortable spaces to the urban population to work in. If we are to foster economic growth and activity, then we must encourage it. We need to provide a suitable ecosystem, and infrastructure to support people doing business. Our goal is to make Lahore a commercial economic city Imran Amin, CEO of the LCBDDA
business openings as well as offers effective working, living and playing spaces through quality urban design.” The entire concept here that Imran Amin continuously repeats and reiterates in the course of our interview is that of urban regeneration. This is the attempt to reverse that decline by both improving the physical structure, and, more importantly and elusively, the economy of those areas. In all regeneration programmes, public money is used as an attempt to pump prime private investment into an area.
What they plan to do
A
s has been mentioned in the previous section, the key term here is urban regeneration. The term was used previously in a 2001 article by The Guardian which mentioned how “the collapse of “Britain’s industrial and manufacturing economy has left many inner city areas blighted by unemployment, riddled with poor housing and socially excluded from more prosperous districts.” There is a key difference between the example that The Guardian discussed in its article and Pakistan today - and that is that Pakistan has never really had an industrial and manufacturing economy for it to collapse in the first place. And while this is not an exact fit, Pakistan does face many of the same issues and the solution may lie somewhere in this idea. Now, the entire concept of urban regeneration is that if the government pumps money into an area it will result in private investment eventually coming into the area. The only issue is, where will the money come from? That one is a little simpler - nowhere. The government does not have the money to spare for such uplift projects apparently, but what it does have is land and lots of it. So in a city like Lahore, the government finds land that it owns, such as the Walton Airport, which is not being used and hands it over to private developers. The developers then decide on their own how much of the land they want to build on commercially and how much of it they want to build on residentially. The
government hands over their land on a 99 year lease to the developers to do as they please but with the agreement that they will only use the land to develop high rise commercial and residential buildings. These buildings in these business districts will then encourage economic growth and activity. “One of the main reasons for setting up the LCBDDA was that the federal and provincial governments believed that the government had enough land in most major cities and different areas that was never used, that if it were, it could be utilized from the point of view of urban regeneration,” explains Amin. “We are an authorised body and our job is to establish environmentally friendly urban regeneration projects on the vertical principle.” That simply means getting Lahoris used to living in heights rather than in widths, and turning Lahore into a metropolis with packed buildings everywhere. The hope is that this development will not just be a desirable spot for both individuals and businesses to gravitate towards, but will also enhance vertical activity in the surrounding areas. “Our job is to establish and promote environment friendly, urban regeneration projects on vertical principals. A pre-financial feasibility has been determined around RS 2700- 3000 billion based on the development as economic advancement, and shall generate employment in various sectors. Development shall also boost vertical activity in surroundings such as Gulberg. The Development has been categorized in three districts namely, Commercial, Residential and Digital District, each district having unique characteristics and dynamics, connected through urban green infrastructure developed by renowned international architects,” says Amin. “Other unique features of the development include history museums to mark the historical significance of the Walton Airport, and a monument to the Quaid in memory of his landing at the airport. History Museum and Jinnah Monument illustrating the rich history of the Walton Airport. Botanical gardens and green spaces are part of the project to compliment the green architecture of this unique yet
modern development. This project will for sure put Pakistan on the map of Global Business Districts,” said Amin.
Location, location, location
A
s we have gone to pains to point out, Lahore has expanded horizontally in terms of real estate. People in the city prefer owning the land they live on and are willing to live a 40 minute drive away from the city center just to own the land beneath their home. However, from a business perspective, such long commutes are difficult to manage. Commercial and residential real estate in areas like Gulberg where you find most things in Lahore is extremely expensive. However, these areas truly are ‘prime’ real estate in Lahore - which is why the first project is aptly named as ‘Lahore Prime.’ Essentially, with a location as central as the one that the central business district offers, life can be made significantly easier for businesses and professionals. “We have now presented our first project ‘Lahore Prime’ for this area which is a unique opportunity for businesses to obtain land on a ‘buy-to-build’ basis. This is a once in a lifetime chance to build high-rise signature towers, mixed use complexes, banks, hotels or any other promising business centre in the best areas of Lahore,” explains Amin. “The Lahore Prime is a project by CBD Punjab contributing to the urbanization of Pakistan and thus we have amalgamated our resources to build a business community never seen before in the country or the region. The site spans across 105 hectares situated between Walton Train station to the South and the Sports Park to the North. It is connected by Gulberg Boulevard Road on the North-west and Ferozepur Road to the South-West.” This location means that the site is also adequately served by public transport, with the Lahore Metro with multiple stops across Ferozepur Road and Walton Train station at the Southern end which connects it to the countrywide rail network. The project is fully
REAL ESTATE
equipped with underground parking, underground electricity, water treatment plants, solar pv, smart cities components (Telecom, Smart Building, Smart Energy), waste management and recycling system, energy centers, botanical gardens and forestation, clean and green environment, parks and playgrounds, amenities including mosques, schools, and hospitals. “The launch of Lahore Prime is not only a symbol of our commitment to the vision of the government but a beacon of change in urban planning. Apart from creating job and business opportunities in the region, this project will result in bringing foreign investment into the country. The financial impacts of this project under CBD include Rs 250 billion in the form of taxes for the government in its first phase, whereas, the generation of Rs 1300 billion revenues also adds to the significance of the project.” The revenue being generated here sounds on the high side. That is mostly because for the “once in a lifetime” opportunity that the Punjab government is offering here, they are asking for a heavy price. “There is a general impression that government lands are leased at cheap rates but the lease of these lands will not be cheap at all because if we lease the land at cheap rates our goal of making a profit and generating revenue will be lost. In fact, for auction, we first evaluate the land. For the land to be auctioned in the said project also, we have done evaluation by three evaluators of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and all three evaluators have the recognition of A Category evaluators from SBP and then we arrive at a minimal reserve price. Even those who want to participate in this auction are complaining to us that we are demanding more than the market rate per kanal price of this land,” explains Amin. “For example, some auction participants said that for commercial activities in the main areas of Gulberg, a good plot of the size of one kanal is available at RS 160 million and we have set a minimum price of RS 200 million per kanal. Here, however, the investor will benefit in any case. Since the project is being worked on under the profit and revenue sharing model, the profits will also go to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as the land is theirs,” Here is where this leaves us: the government has land that it is getting ready to use to promote vertical growth in Lahore. They are selling this in an excess of Rs 200 million per kanal to investors, and in exchange providing them the opportunity to make high-rise mega-projects and decide how they want to make the split between commercial and residential. The LCBDDA claims they are offering friendly bylaws in these ‘central business districts’ that span over hundreds of hectares. So why are people lining up to be part of the auction on the 5th of August for the plots being sold
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in the first project of this nature, and why is everyone else watching with bated breaths? The auction for the initial plots being leased out is only in a few days. This means that the actual implementation of this project is a major hurdle still in the way, but if the vision behind it is brought to life, then it could possibly be a major game changer.
Other cities will have to catch up
P
akistan’s urban population is fast growing, and solutions like this might be early templates for a problem that will affect us acutely in the decades to come. To accommodate a corresponding rise in the number of city dwellers, Pakistan’s urban areas, which will be critical to the economic growth of the nation, require a massive overhaul to brace for such a future. Cities, therefore, need to plan and provide a suitable environment for future investments, create new jobs and livelihoods, build reliable public infrastructure, provide social services with ample access to affordable housing, and, most importantly, support efficient use of resources for a sustainable quality of life. This vivid growth also provides the push for the creation of more smart cities which will also influence information and communications technology (ICT) to significantly improve the productivity, lifestyle, and prosperity of society. Additionally, the favorable bylaws by the government and green growth strategies can build environmentally sustainable metropolises. Take the example of Karachi. It has long been the largest city in Pakistan and the country’s financial capital. It has also followed a model of vertical growth, but has not followed a planned growth strategy. Other cities in Pakistan are poor and dirty, but Karachi is alone in being described as rickety rich: it is clearly a wealthy city with real estate prices among the highest in Pakistan, but one look at the thousands of $1 million homes in the city – and the neighbourhoods they come with – and most people not from the city (and many even from the city) ask: what am I paying for? Even the wealthiest Karachi neighbourhoods are filthy relative to comparable neighbourhoods in Islamabad and Lahore, and many do not have running water: households have to pay private water tanker operators to supply water to their homes. Electricity supply has gotten marginally more reliable than most places in the country, but once it rains, all bets are off. And by bets, we mean electricity. There is no such thing as a rainy day in Karachi where one can rely on electricity from the grid. Now, as Profit has pointed out in the past, none of this has convinced businesses
to leave Karachi in swathes and go to places like Lahore. In fact, even the city’s security situation only made a few businesses uproot themselves. However, where there could be a difference is in people in the service sector. Karachi is currently the go to place to be if you want to be a banker or a financial analyst in Pakistan. But if Lahore suddenly has the infrastructure to house financial houses and institutions, people will gravitate towards the city because they can both work here and live in relatively better conditions. The concept of urban regeneration being conjured up in Lahore might attract people from all over the country - not just Karachi - but it also means that the model might be useful in cities like Karachi where the urban planning situation is in an even worse condition than Lahore. The vision is one where there is complete comfort and facilitation. The Punjab Minister for Housing, Urban Development & Public Health Engineering, Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed commenting on this project said that urban agglomerations, with the presence of CBDs, office setups and industrial centres, are emerging as pivots for new openings of employment and business. “CBDs are now being recognized as areas with high economic activity, they provide an appropriate ecosystem and infrastructure supporting the livelihood of city dwellers. Under the concept of CBDs, launching the first LEED certified (LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership. LEED is for all building types and all building phases including new construction, interior fit outs, operations and maintenance and core and shell) project the Lahore Prime is a matter of immense pleasure and confidence for me and my team. Following the vision of the government, the project is expected to become a game-changer in the field of commercial setups for utilizing resources effectively in Pakistan’s most exciting city, Lahore. Undoubtedly, activities like Lahore Prime contribute to the alleviation of poverty. Consisting of over an area of 300 acres the Lahore Prime by CBD is planned to be completed in 3 phases. The first phase with an area over 128 acres is being designed to generate commercial activity of around 1300 billion rupees. A commercial district will be established in the first phase, a digital district will be introduced in the second phase while a residential district will be built in the third phase. The high-rise buildings will represent the city’s cultural history, and the gates to the district would relate to the historic gates of Lahore. I am pleased to say that the project would likely provide job opportunities to the people while human resource development is another plus. Over 2 million people will also be able to get affordable housing from the project,” the minister said. n
REAL ESTATE
OPINION
Sehar Raothar
The catch 22 of working in a male-dominated profession Men are promoted on potential, women on performance
D
espite increasing labor market participation from women, their experience of the workplace can be one of precarity and insecurity. Many millennial women have responded with a ‘positive front’ – saying yes to all work tasks while highlighting their likability and acceptance of the status quo. This is not seen as a permanent strategy, but rather one that gets you into the workplace and ‘liked’ until your work speaks for itself. Many women also use tactics to confront intersections of ageism & sexism in the workplace. While some employ conscious strategies to be ‘taken seriously’ through dress, small talk, even taking on stereotypical traits of masculinity to be recognized as competent, others explicitly confront inequality through ‘girlie feminism’ with a pro-femininity work identity that challenges the masculine-coded
Sehar Raothar leads strategy for the BL Group Of Companies and can be reached on sehar. raothar@gmail.com
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The female-to-female dynamic is different. The conversation demands that the female boss reacts compassionately to her female subordinate. Some women in organizations are fortunate enough to experience this and some are overshadowed by executive-level complexes
norms of how a successful workplace operates and what it looks like. In jobs of all types, who we are at work are a constantly shifting negotiation between how we are treated and seen by others, the workplace as a social space, our past experiences, and our own expectations. Considering women’s work identities reveal how power and privilege operate in the workplace and the possibilities of our agential challenges to inequitable workplace norms and a precarious labor market. The careers for most women follow an expected trajectory: We begin in our 20s, surrounded by young colleagues of both sexes; move into our 30s, when some of us leave entirely or shift to reduced hours to raise families; then throttle on through our 40s, the decade of major career advancement. As the ranks of women professionals thin, those of us who remain and move upward may face unexpected challenges related to the loss of our female coworkers. Just as we move into responsible roles as corporate and institutional leaders, ready to lead and guide both men and women embarking on their own ascent, we suddenly see that there are very few women professionals to manage. Because many have left along the way, we have pushed ahead with our heads down and have little experience managing female colleagues. For women who have persevered through the corporate competition and finally attained a level of authority over a group of employees, we need to remember a few essentials. Not only is it critical to be genuine and play to our strengths, but we also must understand how societal expectations can sometimes play a role in the way our messages, as managers are received. Men and women who rise to managerial positions face many similar challenges, but there
are unique complexities in the female-to-female workplace dynamic. Studies dating back nearly 20 years examine both the differing communication styles and skills of female and male managers, and how this impacts their employees’ job satisfaction. Data suggests that female employees reject women bosses who behave in a “masculine” or traditionally managerial way. Women employees, when surveyed about qualities they desire in their female bosses, react positively to empathy, support, sensitivity, and self-disclosure, which could well be characterized as historic female stereotypes. The attributes generally associated with male leaders — being persuasive, analytical, and action-oriented — are not influential in how women perceive their female superiors. We might anticipate these stereotypes to change as more women enter organizations at a professional level, but biases change very slowly. More recent studies have made similar observations that “some skills and behaviors, may be considered essential for female managers but not for male managers.” Women expect more qualities, typically labeled “feminine,” from their female superiors and give them lower ratings if found lacking. Women do not hold their male bosses to these same standards when evaluating them. Fair bet? The catch is that to advance in male-dominant organizations, women often must develop the more traditionally male traits. They generally obtain their position through a heavy dose of the traditional male qualities we associate with success — determination, decisiveness, tireless work ethic, and effective use of authority. They repress their feminine qualities, only to find that the women whom they lead demand those more compassionate skills. So when we are busy ignoring our homes and constantly overburdening ourselves, we forget to stop and realize that we are women and do not need this to climb the ladder. However, even if this realization comes in time, the nature of our jobs pushes us into getting back in the same rut of acquiring male-oriented work traits. The female-to-female dynamic is different. The conversation demands that the female boss reacts compassionately to her female subordinate. Some women in organizations are fortunate enough to experience this and some are overshadowed by executive-level complexes. Women executives might try an approach that combines both feminine and masculine characteristics that include sensitivity, cooperation, accessibility, decision-making, analysis, and persuasiveness. For example, women tend to be naturally better than men at reading facial expressions for clues to a
Her resume may look just like his, but because the name is Saba and not Saquib, recruiters may not give a second look. A review of many studies of C-level decision-makers who hired candidates found that clearly competent men were rated higher than equally competent women person’s state of mind and opinion. Women need to translate that skill into understanding their employees, listening to their ideas and concerns, in order to result in a more satisfied workforce. If these female colleagues feel their boss is concerned about their well-being, they will be more likely to follow the direction and suggestions of that leader. While traditional stereotypes are often frowned upon, women are now realizing that societal expectations may be the key to finding balance in leading others. All employees — but especially other women — will respond more favorably to a management style from women strong on listening, empathy, and collaboration. The climb up may well require a different approach than what it takes to stay there. Many advertising agencies in Pakistan with female bosses have made fairness in the workplace a major pillar of their working style. Is this just an SOP to promote female empowerment, or is this addressing a major and widespread problem? Focus groups conducted suggest the latter is true. For the first time, women are half of the educated labor force and earn the majority of advanced degrees. But while women are doing spectacularly well in universities, in the workplace it’s the opposite picture. Women are stalling out, and the higher they go, the harder it gets. Women are not making the progress they have a right to expect, given their education and early promise. New research tells us that a whole network of land mines is exploding women’s progress as they try to move ahead. Her resume may look just like his, but because the name is Saba and not Saquib, recruiters may not give a second look. A review of many studies of C-level decision-makers who hired candidates found that clearly competent men were rated higher than equally competent women. Our pay-scale hinders as well - we work the same number of hours, in the same type of job. And yet, as they start their first jobs, a man is making more than a woman. Over a lifetime of work, a woman with a bachelor’s degree will earn a third less than a man with the same degree. Women start behind and never catch up. This pattern holds true even among gradu-
ates from our most elite universities: Female graduates earn 30 percent less than their male counterparts. Sadly true for almost all fields in Pakistan. Men are promoted on potential, women on performance. Why do so many young male hotshots move up the ladder ahead of their more seasoned female peers? Women are being judged on what they have actually done. For promising men, the potential is enough to win the day. Women who switched jobs two or more times after earning an MBA received less than women who stayed put at their first job and climbed the ranks. These women had to prove themselves again each time they changed employers. In contrast, men who moved on from their first post-MBA job earned more than those who stayed with their first employer. It seems that they were being paid for a promise. Another major problem that still plagues women: When they are clearly competent, they are also often judged to be unlikable — by both men and women. In fact, the more accomplished women become, the more they may suffer in the workplace. Men who are competent are seen as forceful, worthy of promotion, and likely to succeed. It’s all a plus. Women who display competence often pay a price. They are seen by both men and women as unlikable — unfeminine, aggressive, conniving, and untrustworthy. Less competent women are seen as more likable but not very good at their jobs. Another lose-lose for women. Therefore women work hard and achieve the desired results — however, it is shown that in mixed-sex teams, credit is far more often given to the male than the female team member. Specifically, female members are rated as being less competent, less influential, and less likely to have played a leadership role in work on the task. We’ve heard this same story again and again from women around Pakistan. It is especially ominous because in most cases, it isn’t a matter of conscious discrimination against women. It’s simply that the skewed ideas we all have in our heads about what men and women can or can’t do are incredibly hard to root out. n
COMMENT
FASHION
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By Ariba Shahid
O
n February 4, 2021, a rather peculiar crime took place in Karachi. At the posh locality of Defence on Khayaban-e-Bukhari, a group of robbers made their way to a boutique. As they entered, they did not make a beeline for the cash register and nor did they go looking for precious jewelry. Instead, their focus was on rounding up as many designer bridal dresses as possible. By the time the robber left the store, they had managed to carry out 98 bridal dresses between them. The total value of the robbery? Rs 1.5 crores. And to anyone surprised either by the nature of the crime or by the value of the stolen dresses - this is not the first time it is happening and it has happened before exactly because people know how expensive these dresses are. A similar incident took place a few months ago in which a boutique in Karachi’s Bahadurabad area was robbed for both cash and dresses. What do these incidents tell you? There is the obvious, which is that Karachi is not safe and the crime rate is high. It might also tell you that boutiques do not have great security, perhaps because they do not necessarily feel like they are very obvious targets for thieves and robbers. But the most important takeaway from these incidents is that bridal dresses are valuable and worth a lot of money, and their being stolen means there is probably a black market for these stolen dresses. The thieves in this equation are clearly the criminals. But ostentatious charges for wedding dresses is a practice found everywhere. In Pakistan, it has reared its ugly head more recently in the form of designer dresses with each designer commanding a certain level of prestige and the more the prestige the more ridiculous the prices for these clothes. And while Karachi’s putrid security standards have a lot to do with all of this, it is worth looking into the bridal dresses industry in Karachi and the country at large, and what the dynamics behind these very high end and very expensive products are.
A love for weddings (sort of)
P
akistanis and their love for weddings is no secret. Whether you’re a girl or a boy, once you’re of age your not-sofriendly distant relative starts getting concerned about when you’re tying the knot. While finding a good match is important, the right dress is too. A common question that brides are often asked is “who are you wearing?” No, they aren’t skinning anyone and
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The bridal couture industry is worth Rs 105 billion rupees a year. Based on our projections, a 2% increase in the number of weddings and a 10% increase in the prices of dresses will make the industry a Rs 117 billion industry next year. If it continues to grow at the same rate, all other factors held constant, it can be worth Rs 300 billion by 2030 wearing them, (even though sometimes it feels the designers are when they demand money but more on that later) instead this question means what brand are you going to wear. This was not always the case. For the longest time, bridal dresses in Pakistani and subcontinental weddings were not the showcase. The culture, however, has long been the same of a wedding being a display of wealth rather than a celebration. Before, it used to be gold sets that were the focus of attention and dresses were usually made through private tailors. However, in the 1990s, Pakistan's nascent fashion industry began to take shape. Brands like Gul Ahmed for regular lawn clothes had existed since as early as the 1950s and even before partition, but driven by women entering the workforce in large numbers and having more spending power, a fresh batch of fashion designers cropped up in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Once they established themselves, they also started making wedding clothes and charging high prices for them. In recent years, with more designers coming in and social media making wedding pictures and captions on those pictures particularly important, the significance of the wedding dress in Pakistani weddings has increased. With news like Isha Ambani’s wedding lehenga costing 90 crores going viral in the Pakistani social media sae, the prices of wedding dresses are something Pakistanis have become obsessed with and have very much made a status symbol of. So, if you are a bride deciding on her wedding dress, and your family is the sort that cares about ‘log kya kahen gai’ and putting on display wealth, you would want to go to the top designers that charge the most for often gaudy looking dresses. If you are less ostentatious, but still want a nice designer dress for one of the most important days of your life, you might go for a designer that is not considered top of the line. To figure out who these designers are and what they are charging, we have broken down the industry into six tiers and pricing groups. They are as follows.
1.
Top Tier:
Examples: Dr Haroon, Bunto Kazmi These are old school names. People with
supposedly old money and staying close to tradition are considered their clients. You often need to book a dress at least 6 months in advance or pull some strings to get an appointment. The prices of their wedding dresses are reportedly over Rs 1.2 million on average. It is entirely likely you might be going here because your mom got her wedding dress from this place too.
2.
Second Tier:
Examples: Sana Safinaz, HSY, Elan These are relatively younger names in fashion but have established themselves as high end brands. You’ll find a number of families begging these designers to give them an appointment too. The prices of the dresses are between 700,000 to 1.2 million. And yes, despite you paying the big bucks, the designers are the ones you have to chase around. Because prices are so high and the margins even higher, they can afford to only make a limited number of dresses a year. Besides, it is the rarity that gives the dresses some of their value.
3. Third Tier: Somewhat famous designers
Examples: Haris Shakeel, Shakeelz These are names that have started off primarily from Instagram or are known because of their boutiques and quality over the years. The prices for their bridal dresses vary from between Rs 100,000 to Rs 700,000. This is a very wide range. Someone might be happy to spend Rs 100,00 on a wedding dress, but they also have higher end stuff.
4.
Fourth Tier
Examples: Shops you find for instance at Tariq Road that produce customized and off the rack dresses + Karigars you find at Gulf Market in Karachi. These are shops that have not spent exuberant amounts on marketing and branding. They cater towards the middle class. You can find dresses starting Rs 40,000 upto Rs 100,000. With tailors around, if you have a creative knack, you could even design your own dress and be very happy with it and it might even look like it's worth a lot more
than some of the upper tier designers we have discussed. However, what in the world will you say when they ask you that awful question: what are you wearing?
5.
Fifth Tier
Examples: Shops at Jama Cloth or Allah wali Market This is the wedding dress shopping experience without air conditioners and fancy shops. Basically, for those with a working knowledge of the romcom genre, this is the equivalent of brawling for a dress at a mall rather than a store with free cake and Champagne. Here you’ll find ready made dresses based on your range. The prices start from as low as Rs 10,000 for a bridal dress and are usually not more than Rs 50,000.
Seriously? That much money?
W
e have mentioned above that the margins for these dresses are quite high. And let us also state here, to clarify the possible snark you might have detected above, that we truly believe people have the right to spend their hard earned money as they see fit. And if creative types like designers feel their vision and imagination is worth charging Rs 1.2 million for a dress, then we happily accept that it is the case and if people are willing to pay them that money then that is wonderful. However, we cannot claim to say that it is a smart decision, but what we can say for sure is that the margins are indeed very high. These dresses are, after all, just a question of fabric, the work done on that fabric, and fitting. Yes you can do things like trim it with gold or silver, but the profits on these dresses
For the longest time, bridal dresses in Pakistani and subcontinental weddings were not the showcase. Before, it used to be gold sets that were the focus of attention and dresses were usually made through private tailors. However, in the 1990s, Pakistan’s nascent fashion industry began to take shape are massive. It is a vicious cycle in which because of the high prices designers can afford to only sell a limited amount of bespoke dresses instead of mass producing them (since everyone wants something different) and because of the limited availability, the brand value in the eyes of the buyers goes up. Just by getting a meeting they feel like they have struck oil. The obvious things that go into making a wedding dress are the fabric and embellishments. The price of a dress depends on a number of factors. The most important factor is what type of designer you’re going to be employing. If you’re going to someone on the pricier side, you’ll be paying a lot more for brand name and design. However, as you go down the pyramid, the pricing primarily depends on the quality of the fabric and the intricacy of the design. This includes numerous factors. A dress made using original banarsi fabric is bound to be more expensive than a dress using fake fabric. Moreover, dresses that have intricate embellishments and handwork are priced higher. Similarly, you’re charged a premium based on the type of designer you go to. In the higher end section, which is the first three tiers of recognisable designer names, the objective quality of the fabric and the technical aspects of the works will be pretty much the same. The price difference is just based on the
brand value and any subjective preference a bride might have - very much like buying an iPhone or a Samsung phone.
The size of the wedding couture industry
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here is no exact way to figure out how big the size is of the Pakistani bridal couture industry. The reason is because the industry is, no surprises, quite informally organised. While we see big names selling expensive dresses, what one needs to remember is that most of the sales are off the books or not reported. Smaller designers do not have accurate records, and understate their sales, and that is if they pay taxes to begin with. In short, what we’re trying to say is the industry is filled with tax evaders and avoiders. Profit, however, has managed to reach an arbitrary number. The size of the wedding dress industry for just a wedding dress and not the receiption is sized at Rs 105 billion. For Shadi and valima you could say it’s Rs 210 billion industry How did we get to this number? This is our methodology, which you can feel free to skip: As per the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18, approximately 2.7 to 3 million people got married in 2018. Assuming the higher end of the range, that means 1.5 million weddings happen in a year. Considering a 2% growth rate in population, we’re going to assume that the number of weddings also increase by 2% in a year. That means approx. 1.6 million weddings happened in 2021. In order to calculate the size of the wedding industry we’ve assigned weightages and multiplied it with average prices. Doing so, we were able to estimate the current size of the bridal couture industry at Rs 105 billion. However, doing so, the average price of a dress comes to Rs 65,750. This is because although the weightage for the top 0.5% is less, it is able to contribute significantly to the total revenue. Moreover, if we continue with our 2% growth rate assumption, and add 10% inflation, we expect the bridal dress industry to reach Rs 300 billion by 2030.
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Similarly, the industry should be able to generate around Rs 17 billion sales tax in addition to a substantial income tax (considering the high profit margins) that these designers should be paying.
Tax
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ou will find it funny that we’re doing a story on bridal couture and yet have no interview or quotes from designers. We find it strange too. Profit has been reaching out to designers since the last quarter of 2020. Most have not responded once they were sent the list of questions. For transparency and your own intellectual curiosity, here are the set of questions sent to each designer: 1. How long have you been a designer? How long has your brand been established? 2. What “image” does your brand project? 3. Which income class are you aiming to cater to? 4. What is the minimum price for a branded and unbranded wedding dress based on your experience as a designer? 5. What is the minimum price for a wedding dress at your brand? What is the maximum price you’ve sold a dress for?
6. Do you only sell off-the-rack internationally? Do international customers have the ability to get a customized dress made? What is the process like? 7. Is your business documented? Do you pay taxes? How do you invoice bridal dresses? 8. Do you accept credit cards and bank transfers as payments, or prefer cash? 9. Do you have a dedicated karigar, or is the work outsourced? 10. If you were to break up the cost of a wedding dress, which would be the biggest cost: added value, labor, material, designer costs, labor cost, other (please mention)? 11. Why do you think the Pakistani wedding couture industry isn’t as popular as India’s across the world? What must designers do to step up? 12. How fast-paced do you think the industry is? Is it easy for a designer to get replaced? 13. Do you think brands compete amongst themselves locally or do they try to compete internationally too? We’re assuming question 5, 7, and 8 were the reasons we did not hear back from anyone. In February 2020, the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) identified 24 designers that
And yes, despite you paying the big bucks, the designers are the ones you have to chase around. Because prices are so high and the margins even higher, they can afford to only make a limited number of dresses a year. Besides, it is the rarity that gives the dresses some of their value 30
were involved in tax evasion. The FBR investigated the prices of dresses and matched that with the tax they received. The bridal dress designers were either paying little tax or were not listed on the tax roll. Designers like Shehrnaz, Nada Tai, Aisha Ahmed, Wardha Saleem, Sanam Chaudhri, Sania Maskatiya, Cartes by Pasho, Silhouettes by Ash and Uzma, Nida Azwar, Waqar J. Khan, Kavalier Laser Cut Innovations, Rozina Munib, Ayesha Sarfaraz, Farida Qureshi, Saleha, Mahin, Natasha Kamal, Basic, Sarah Arshad Gilani, Amna Chaudry, Chikankari, House of Farah V, Sable Vogue, and Zuri by Zainab Fawad were mentioned in the FBR notice. "It is estimated that a huge loss of revenue would be detected," read a line from the notification. Based on our assumption of the market size to be worth Rs 300 billion, the total tax receipts from bridal dresses alone should be in the range of Rs 50 billion by 2030. However, it is unlikely that this will happen. Reasons for this are simple. Most designers do not operate in a very commercial way. Most have a studio inside their homes where they take appointments. They get their embroidery and embellishments done from karigars sitting at a workshop. Even when designers work from shops, these dresses do not have barcode tags that are checked out on sale. With the industry operating primarily on cash and rarely IBFT transfers or cash cheques, one can easily manage to evade taxes. Documentation, however, is possible when these brands sell online, especially internationally. What this means is not all of their transactions are off the books or undocumented. n
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By Shahab Omer
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very year when Eid-al-Adha comes around, massive urban centers are all of a sudden bombarded with livestock. All year people in rural areas raise goats,
sheep, cows, and camels for sacrifice on Eid, and around two weeks before the religious festival, they bring their animals to the cities to sell them. What kind of sacrificial animal you buy, what its colour is, what it’s breed is, and where it is from all factor in the price and since these sacrificial beasts are a
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bonafide status symbol the prices they fetch can be astronomical. The economics behind livestock buying and selling on Eid are fascinating. Around 250,000 to 300,000 animals make it to the main animal market of Karachi that is spread over 900 acres of land, slightly bigger than Central Park in Manhattan, and about eight times bigger than Vatican City, the smallest country in the world by land area. And it is not just the rich who splurge on buying expensive animals during Eid-ulAzha. Many middle class buyers save money for the whole year to buy a sacrificial animal of their choice, often forgoing other purchases in order to be able to buy an expensive animal during that time of the year. Social prestige, combined with perceived religiosity are a powerful motivator for many people, though others perceive it as the best way to fulfil what they consider a religious obligation. But for the past few years, this economic activity has seen a serious dip. This year and the year before that can easily be attributed to the coronavirus pandemic, and people having less money to buy cattle as well as being not as willing to go to crowded marketplaces. However, the trend has been seen since before the pandemic as well. Back in 2019, the PBIF forecasted up to a 40% drop in Eid-related economic activity in 2019 compared to the previous year. The main reason: the wide economic slowdown is likely to impact people’s spending on what is still largely viewed by many buyers as a discretionary item of spending. Add to this the realities that came with lockdowns and mass unemployment after the coronavirus pandemic, and you have even worse conditions. Along with this, naturally, one market that has been affected is leather.
The leather market and Eid
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veryone has seen how big the kerfuffle over hides is after Eid-ul-Adha. Well before the Islamic festival that honours sacrifice has even begun, NGOs, government bodies, charities and political parties are all out to collect the hides of the sacrificial animals that are supposed to be
given away as charity. We have all been through it, from the catchy slogans like “Sacrifice for God, hides for Shaukat Khanum” by charity organisations to the less attractive threats of certain political parties in certain cities [yes, we are talking about the MQM in Karachi], the hides business is a free for all, since the raw product is essentially being given away for free. It is all a question of who can collect them, and how cheaply leather manufacturers can buy them. And the leather industry waits with bated breath every year for Eid, because this is one of the reasons Pakistan’s leather is so good. Livestock reared for meat and hides is usually small, and thus gives smaller hides. The animals bought and sacrificed for Eid are bred for beauty and size, which ends up meaning that the hides are of a greater size and quality, both of which are desirable for leather production. The price of hides depends on the demand and supply in the market. The prices of sacrificial animal hides were high seven or eight years ago but are now very low. This situation is not only in Pakistan, but also in the international market. Recently, as the number of sacrificial animals in Pakistan is declining every year, the trend of collecting skins is decreasing every year as compared to the past, whereas in the past, besides religious parties, charities and madrassas, campaigned to collect skins. Every effort was made to collect the skins and then sell them to raise capital. The race to collect skins was so intense that in the country’s largest city, Karachi, skins were snatched from each other and shootings erupted against each other on the basis of such incidents. People associated with Pakistan’s leather industry were already predicting a reduction in sacrifice and skins this year. Why is the number of sacrifices in Pakistan declining every year and why is the practice of collecting sacrificial skins declining? In this regard, Profit has approached people ranging from cattle sellers to people associated with the leather industry, from which it is not difficult to predict that the leather industry will not be able to benefit much from this festival in the years to come.
An official of the Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA) told Profit that more than 25 million animals have been sacrificed in Pakistan in the last three years. Taken as a whole, these sacrificed animals include more or less 8 million cows, about 10 million goats and 2.6 million sheep and 100,000 camels 32
Why were the sacrificial animals expensive this time?
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akistani leather manufacturers have a bit of a chip on their shoulders. Generally, when you think leather, you think Italy, not Pakistan. Italian leather, like Italian sports cars or suits, screams luxury. Other than the quality of the product, the idea of wearing shoes or having a belt or a wallet made of Italian leather comes with a certain oomph factor. Which is why, perhaps, every businessman involved in the leather industry in Pakistan is constantly raving about how Pakistan produces the best quality leather after Italy. The claim, which sounds like a tall one at first, is not without substance. Sporting leather apparel from Pakistan may not have the same appeal and brand equity that its Italian competitor does, but leather products from Pakistan constantly hold up their own quality wise on the global market. For starters, most of the leather produced here is vat-dyed instead of the spraydyed stuff that is more commonly available, which means it keeps its colour for longer. The frequency with which American bikers and biking enthusiasts on Harley Davidson forums extol the virtues and affordability of Pakistani leather is amusingly high. And if you egg local manufacturers on enough, they will eventually break and say their leather is the best in the world, and the Italians are simply getting by on brand value. Unsurprisingly enough, since it is a rare quality product that Pakistan is capable of producing, it is one of our top exports. The second largest export oriented industry in the country, Pakistan is not even among the top 10 leather producing countries in the world, but its product does offer high quality. But as we have mentioned earlier in this article, this high quality leather is only possible largely because of the high quality animal hides collected every Eid. And if Eid cattle shopping declines, there will be less Pakistani leather to go around - and already it is barely enough to be an important player on the international market. So why are fewer animals being sacrificed on Eid? Shafqat Qadri, a sacrificial animal trader at Lahore’s renowned cattle market, Shahpur Kanjran, said he had bought animals from different villages across Pakistan in the market and many animals had to be sent back because this time there were more sacrificial animals in the markets and fewer buyers. “This situation is not only on Eid days but also on normal days. Customers are less likely to go to the markets. I have collected sacrificial animals from different villages
in South Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and taken more than a hundred animals. Now that the prices of mutton and beef had gone up before Eid, the prices of traders in the market were skyrocketing. Another reason for the rise in livestock prices was that traders had to work hard to get stalls in cattle markets and had to pay bribes to market staff to get stalls. The daily rent of a 30-by-30-meter stall in the market was more than RS 20,000. Now think for yourself that the merchants had to cover their expenses by selling the animals. Now when the price of the animal is increased for these expenses, the customer goes back to the market without buying the animal,” he said. Mudassar Yaseen, who hails from the Punjab town of Arifwala used to bring sacrificial animals to the Lahore market every year on the occasion of Eid. He informed Profit that the increase in mutton and beef rates and market stall prices were just two of the reasons for the increase in the price of an animal, but despite all these reasons the prices of sacrificial animals were unrealistic. “Now the thing to consider is that if traders buy animals from the villages at cheap prices, then why do they sell animals at high prices in the market, then the answer is clear as the pricing of any animal takes into account the cost of transport, fodder, stalls and the risk of loss. For example, we pay between 18,000 to 22,000 rupees for a goat that weighs between 30 kg to 35 kg. Simply put, we offer a live goat rate of RS 500 per kg, similarly, the rate of sheep is 400 to 450 per kg and we offer RS 300 per kg for live lamb. Sometimes we buy these animals by weight and sometimes we estimate the weight of the animal from our own experience. However,
using your experience can sometimes be very rewarding,” he explains. “Secondly, by looking at the age of the animal, it is also estimated how much weight gain is possible if the animal is bought one month before Eid and given a good diet and that, too, is likely to pay off. However, we do not offer more than Rs 200 per kg for a live ox or a cow and the purchase of a large animal is mostly done by guessing because it is a difficult task to weigh them and the villages do not have such large scales.” “In order to bring these animals into the city, you have to understand that the pockets of the traffic and police personnel standing at most of the nooks and crannies have to be heated and then we have to pay huge bribes to get stalls in the market and then we are in a position to do business. Now, for example, if we have bought animals worth Rs 1 million, then bringing them to the market and selling them till the day of Eid would also cost us RS 300,000. Now let’s turn to the customer, the customer did not find a goat weighing 25 kg in the market this time for less than RS 40,000. If anyone outside the market has managed to buy a goat of this weight at a low price, he is lucky. Now the trader has bought the same goat for RS 500 per kg and he kept trying to get double profit on it which was wrong practice and this practice is done every year on the occasion of Eid. The same is true with the prices of cows, oxen, sheep and lambs. That is, traders try to sell animals at twice the price of their purchase.” “Now the rich customer’s pocket allows him to buy an expensive animal but the common man easily realizes that the trader is demanding more money for the animal in terms of height, age and weight. This year,
under the pretext of rising prices of beef and mutton, traders sold animals at higher prices, but this time more animals were also sent back than last year. Now it is up to the government and the price control committees to think that the lower the number of sacrifices, the greater the impact on the economic circle. The solution, in my opinion, is for the government to fix the prices of live animals in the markets according to their color, breed, type and weight. For example, if the government fixes the rate of live goat at RS 700 per kg and if this rate is implemented in the cattle markets, the number of sacrifices will also increase significantly and all related businesses will also prosper. To do so, the government will have to take all small and large livestock farmers into the loop, and this is not a difficult task, as many livestock farms sell the sacrificial animal at a reasonable price each year by weighing the live animal,” Yaseen suggested.
What was the number of sacrifices this time?
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n official of the Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA) told Profit that more than 25 million animals have been sacrificed in Pakistan in the last three years. Taken as a whole, these sacrificed animals include more or less 8 million cows, about 10 million goats and 2.6 million sheep and 100,000 camels. “Similarly, in the year 2020, as many as 2 million cows, 3.14 million goats, 800,000 sheep and 60,000 camels were sacrificed. If we take a look at the previous year 2019, a total of 3 million cows, 4 million goats, 1 million sheep and 100,000 camels were sacrificed, while in 2018, approximately 2.6 million cows, 3 million goats, 5,000 camels and 300,000 lambs were sacrificed,” said the official. They added that 2 million to 2.2 million cows had been sacrificed across the country this year, while 5.5 to 6 million goats and sheep had been slaughtered. “Similarly, 100,000 camels were sacrificed. If we talk about Lahore, about 0.45 million cows were sacrificed and 5.5 to 6 million sheep and goats were slaughtered and inflation led to 20 percent fewer sacrifices than last year,” he said. On the other hand Ejaz Ahmed Sheikh, a member of the core committee and managing committee of the PTA, told Profit that the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation have broken the backs of citizens, as a result, there was already a trend of 10-15 percent reduction in the nationwide sacrificial this year. Tanneries receive 95 percent of the skins of sacrificial animals, which makes the annual
LEATHER
sacrifice statistics clear. The leather industry, like other industries, is suffering due to the economic impact of the Covid-19. The number of raw hides on Eid-ul-Adha this year was already expected to decrease by 10 to 15 percent. However, the price of skins has increased slightly compared to last year. “This year, cow skins were bought for Rs 700, goat skins were bought for Rs 200 and sheep skins for Rs 100. However, last year, cow skins were bought for Rs 500 to Rs 600, goat skins for sS 125 to 150 and sheep skins for Rs 25 to 35. In three years, the number of skins fell from 11 million to 8 to 8.5 million last year, while this year the number is expected to fall further to 6 to 7 million,” he informed. Because there are fewer skins, the prices have increased. This means that tanneries are now producing less leather at a higher cost, making the business all the more difficult.
Complications of leather production
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here is a lot more to the treatment of these hides than meets the eye. For example, whether it is the hide of a sacrificial animal or a routine animal, there are three steps to converting it into usable leather that determine its value. One stage is the hide itself, the other stage is the chemical used on the hide and the third is the labor cost of the process. Clumsy butchers, due to their negligence, make cuts on the hide and with one cut; the A-plus hide becomes category A. While two cuts put it in B category and three cuts put it in C category. “For the common man, these seem to be small cuts, but for us, the cut hide becomes useless. Garment patterns cannot be formed on the cut hide,” said one manufacturer. Usman Malik, owner of a tannery in Sialkot, informed Profit that there are many stages in the manufacturing of leather through which leather is prepared as required and many chemicals are used for it. “Cows, buffaloes, camels, goats, sheep and lambs are slaughtered and their skins are peeled off and salt is added to them for short periods of time so that they do not stink. Once salted, it can be stored for up to a month. The skins are then soaked in sodium sulfate and lime and kept in large ponds for four days so that the skin becomes soft and the hair separates from it. Then it is washed in open water and its peeling is done skillfully with very sharp tools,” he explains. Because this is skilled labour, the wages are also higher, making it a more expensive business to be in. And since the Pakistani leather industry is trying to frame itself as a luxury leather producer of quality rather than quantity, they have to use top of the line products and chemicals to maintain their standards. “Workers skillfully clean the skin
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Pakistani leather manufacturers have a bit of a chip on their shoulders. Generally, when you think leather, you think Italy, not Pakistan. Italian leather, like Italian sports cars or suits, screams luxury. Which is why, perhaps, every businessman involved in the leather industry in Pakistan is constantly raving about how Pakistan produces the best quality leather after Italy by separating unnecessary ingredients and it is then poured into large wooden drums and washed thoroughly in open water with fertilizer bisulfate, chemical bat and only soap etc. After about four hours of washing, the effect of the first chemical disappears. After which salt, sulfuric acid, sodium phosphate and other chemicals are mixed in the same drum and activated for about 4 to 5 hours to strengthen the skin,” adds Usman. “The finished skin is bleached through various chemical processes and the skin can be bleached for up to three years with the use of petrochemicals. In the next and final steps, leather sheets are made to order and then it is dyed according to the order. It is then dried on large plates and temporarily glued to the chemical. After drying, it is buffed and finally, it is sprayed for polish and gloss and finished. Now that we have bought the skins from the leather markets, we leave the entire process of preparation to the contractors. From the leather market to the leather finishing, the products made from it and the demand and supply in its market, we are paying the price of the skins keeping in view our business because export orders in our industry have been reduced due to artificial leather and the price of a leather product is a bit expensive anyway, the common man does not touch it quickly.” However, an employee working in a tannery in Sialkot, on condition of anonymity, informed Profit that although thousands of people are employed in the leather industry, people still work here for low wages. “Leather workers suffer from various diseases, especially young children who are afflicted with various diseases. This is because the tannery owners have contracted out all the stages of leather manufacturing and the contractor prefers to work with young children in the lure of maximum savings. There are no restrictions on child labor laws in these areas,” they said. “The owners have put up signs saying that their tanneries do not employ anyone under the age of 16, while dozens of minors are employed by them. The tannery owners say that these children are not their employees but the employees of the contractor and acquit themselves. Most tanneries do not have
the number of employees on the leave form to avoid the rules of paying monthly salary and 8 hours working hours as per government rules. There are no fire extinguishers or emergency evacuation arrangements.”
Why are fewer skins being collected?
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lready there are fewer sacrifices taking place, and on top of that, fewer skins are being collected from the ones that are available than normally would. The Edhi Foundation, a leading name in the field of welfare services, also ran a nationwide campaign to collect skins, but this has almost disappeared since the death of its founder, Abdul Sattar Edhi. Saad Edhi, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation, said that when the skins were collected six or seven years ago, the price of cow skins ranged from RS 4,000 to RS 5,000 and goat skins were sold for RS 1,500. “Now that we have issued the tender, the highest bid for the big skin was RS 450. If a skin sells for RS450, the resources spent on collecting the skins are not met, on the contrary, we have to bear the loss. We don’t run campaigns anymore, but if we get a call from four or five houses in an area, we go and get the skins. Pakistan’s biggest buyer of leather is Europe, but being on the FATF gray list has led to a decline in exports, so leather buyers have also shown a lack of interest in investing. That is why the prices of skins have come down,” he informed. Maulana of a Madrassa near Lahore Raja Market informed this scribe that it was true that the price of skins has come down a lot so now the madrassas have started collecting skins locally. “When volunteers from charities organizations do not come to pick up skins, people donate skins to madrassas at the local level. Although these skins do not provide the madrassas with the resources they need, it is better to get something without trying. In the same way, people are now turning their attention back to the poor and needy in their areas,” he said. n
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