International fashion retailer 'Next' comes to Pakistan

International fashion retailer comes to Pakistan
OUR STAFF REPORTER

LAHORE – UK's leading fashion retailer NEXT with the hallmark of exclusive designs that offer style and quality with a contemporary fashion edge has arrived in Pakistan. The first NEXT store would open in the city by the end of February in Gulberg.
NEXT currently operates 450 stores throughout UK and 134 stores across Europe and Asia. NEXT in Pakistan will carry a complete range of men's wear, ladies' wear & children's wear while footwear and accessories will also feature in each of these three categories.
Team A Ventures (Pvt) Ltd, which has been awarded the franchise, announced the arrival of NEXT PLC in Pakistan at a press conference held at a local hotel on Tuesday. Besides the Managing Director of Team A Ventures Yasin Piracha, Steve Middleton from NEXT UK, Azhar Piracha and Saulat Ali the British Deputy High Commissioner and Director Trade and Investment, Hamesh St. Claire Daniel, OBE, was also present.
Daniel, who has served in Pakistan for five years in two tenures, while speaking on the occasion said that remarkable change has occurred in the retail sector of Pakistan. "We have seen that change dramatically here in the last three years. I see that as a real sign of confidence in the economy of Pakistan. To get such a great fashion retailer from UK here and particularly in Lahore shows the confidence in Pakistan. We hope to see more NEXT stores opening in Karachi, Islamabad and in other cities soon," he said.
The British diplomat was of the view that many people from UK were coming here to look at investment opportunities and to do business. "There is a great opportunity to invest in Pakistan. We have seen it for many years with banks and many companies doing business here. The British business has doubled in the last three years. The British Pakistani community in UK come to explore the investment opportunities here.
"What is more important is that investment here will create huge employment opportunities here. We see a growing population, which faces a lot of challenges. We look forward to working with people to meet those challenges. Getting people job opportunities is crucial to the future of Pakistan. The coming of big brands to Pakistan is a positive sign and major step forward in the friendship between Britain and Pakistan," Daniel maintained.
Earlier after a video presentation Yasin Piracha briefed about the NEXT. With the opening of the first store in Lahore, NEXT will enter the Pakistan retail market and expand into all major cities of the country, opening multiple stores in the coming years at par with NEXT Stores worldwide and will create more than 200 jobs with training on international retail standards.
"NEXT is synonymous with stylish, mainstream fashion retail not only across 450 UK stores but also in shopping malls and high streets across Europe and Asia. The NEXT overseas franchise business represents a rapidly growing part of their overall business and we are proud to be the 135th overseas NEXT franchise store, to open in Lahore and the first of many planned openings in Pakistan.
"The NEXT retail model is unique because of its innovative use of technology and replenishment which will always ensure that the stock we have in store is the same as what you see in any NEXT store anywhere in the world. From Dubai to London to Moscow the look of our store and the stock within will be identical with a few exceptions for our local & respected traditions.
"In our first Lahore store you will see the latest in fashion styling with price points that are comparable to other NEXT stores across the world. The 2007 NEXT collection represents a significant step forward for NEXT & its franchisees. What we will sell in store will include a broad range of 'newness' such as advanced wrinkle-free suiting fabrics, men's jackets with radiation free mobile phone pockets, a revolutionary breakthrough in Fashion. Italian tailoring and sharper and 'value added' trims across all Men's categories. Ladies and children's wear also benefit from luxurious fabrics, bold new prints and impeccable styling. The arrival of Next is sure to add a new dimension to all our wardrobes," Piracha said.
It may be mentioned here that the franchisee, Team A Ventures, has established itself as a leader in Retail Franchising by acquiring the franchise for Mothercare and NEXT in a short span of two years.

Wow -

Will there be Big Sale as well. Will Pakistanis be standing outside the store 5 'o' clock in the morning?

I did come across the brand 'NAXT' whilst I was in Pak - perhaps they will have competition!

probably cos all people at sales in london are pakistani, you can see big long ques of asians at 5am so they should do it.

How about their prices - I doubt the 'average' PAk is not going to be able to afford RS 1200 for a pair of boxer shorts...

but the rich can.

Thats the only problem I have with these developments - they target the 'super-waelthy (who are the minority, whilst the avearge Pak guy that earn a few thousand RS a month will be left watching these glorious structures/plazas from outside.

and rich comprises of what propotion of our population? I dont think its even 1 percent.

even 1 percent is potentially 1.6 million customers.. i do think 1% is significantly underestimating the number of people who are middle income..

great another investor targeting the elite..im getting sick of this nonsense..normal people can barely afford onions and we have this western garbage clothing being sold now to our elite who would love to go to sleep pakistani and wake up american or british..its a disgrace!!..why isnt the govt concentrating on developing our agriculture and manifacturing industries? instead of lining their own pockets..interesting to see the womens line..tight jeans and short tops..? mashallah bohat acha mahool ban raha hay hamary mulk main!!

well if it is in Gulberg..certainly not.

although middle class onwards...

Pakistani raw cotton buyers diverting to India
RIZWAN BHATTI
KARACHI (January 26 2007): Leading foreign buyers of Pakistani raw cotton are diverting to India and USA due to high contamination ratio. As a result, 23 percent decline has been noted in Pakistan's raw cotton export during the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period last year.

Pakistan's raw cotton exporters are facing challenges of quality in the international market as such, Pakistan's raw cotton export is declining, benefiting India and the USA.

According to official statistics, Pakistan's raw cotton export stood at $25.365 million during the first half (July-December) period of the current fiscal year as compared to $33.172 million during the same period last fiscal year. This accounts for a decrease of $807 million. In term of quantity, raw cotton export to different countries has declined by 23 percent.

During the first half of the current fiscal year, Pakistan has exported 23,781 tonnes of raw cotton as compared to 30,892 tonnes during the same period last year, denoting a decline of 7,111 tonnes.

Much before the official statistics were made available, Naseem Usman, a leading trader of the Karachi Cotton Exchange (KCE), told Business Recorder that buyers of Pakistani raw cotton including Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh are now avoiding. The reason he quoted was high contamination ratio, which tilted the Indian and US buyers' decision.

He said that contamination ratio in the Pakistan's raw cotton is higher than the other competing countries, as a result, the Pakistani exporters are loosing buyers. Statistics of raw cotton exports also showing a decreased of 9 percent during December 2006 as compared to the same period last year.

Pakistan exported worth $6.947 million raw cotton during December 2006 as against $7.640 million in the same period last year. In terms of quality, during December 2006, Pakistan exported 6,510 tonnes raw cotton as compared to 7,132 tonnes in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. That accounts for a decline of 622 metric tonnes.

Naseem Usman said that although Pakistan's raw cotton prices are lower than that of US and India in the international market, but exporters are facing challenges of cotton quality, which benefits India and other countries against Pakistan.

Price of the Pakistani cotton is 52 cent per pound while the Indian cotton costs 56 cent per pound and USA at 58 cent per pound in the international market, he said.

He said that although this year government has taken some steps to increase contamination free cotton production up to 0.1 million tonnes, but this is grossly inadequate to meet international demand.
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maybe the govt should concentrate in fixing the above instead of helping a minority fo the populace!!

The onions situation is serious - over RS 50 / kilo - thats MORE than what I pay for onions in the UK.

Ive seen my family in Pak having to shell out RS 150+ for onions - and its a killer!

well there made by the rich themselfs. what kind of business can they start for the poor, and then how much money would that generate for them?

not sure what the government as got to do with this as this is free enterprise from a foreign investor...

cotton growers need to improve in their research with the help of government or NG0s....

hes retarded, ive explained it to him before but he comes back with the same goverment thing.

Well said - agree with you

..and the irony is that these boxer shorts will probably have been made in Pakistan, China or some fast eastern country.

I hope the items will have prices in line with the local economy.

how about a cake eating business for the poor

I get my boxers from Next.

Hope this helps.

Next Sale in Lahore, would it be able to teach Pakistanis to stand in a que? Que-jumping being our national sports, would not be there all kinds of fights, pushing and pulling? Would not the best sale items be already picked, packed and despatched to DSP Sahib's begum before the store opens? Wouldn't the nazim sahib get normal priced items at sale price? All kinds of things that can only happen in Pakistan

Super rich buying expensive clothes while majority wondering where the next meal (no pun intended!) would come from is a disgusting situation. Sadly this is the future of our world. Your Rs 1200 boxer shorts would wreak havoc on the local currency, attributing to the increase in inflation and further burden on the poor. Capitalism stinks.

I bought a dozen in the sales

no youre the retarded 12 year old..what the hell is your malfunction?? dont you get it little boy??..foreign investment in the wrong sector is useless..what benefit is this form of investment doing for the normal common man? what sre these investments doing to the economy? nothing!!! the rich get richer, inflation goes up and the poor get poorer....

answer me this: what real benefits does this form of investment bring to the majority of the population...now remeber the majority live in the villages and our major industry is agriculture hence my emphasis on the cotton incident...the govt should be getting foreign investors to help in our textile industry,agriculture and manufacturing industry..

what benefit does the building of seven star hotels bring to the common worker who toils for 14 hours at a time in a village to feed his family? are our people destined to continue to clean the shoes of rich foreigners and expats keen on seeing only a small side of Pakistan?

as usual your moronic responses are tiresome...where is the real developemnt in our country? thats my point...

firstly, you retarded fool, this is no foreign investment, its being set up by a pakistani company, if you read the article before opeing your ****, and saying that foreign investment is useless shows how retarded you really are, you seem to be nawa shrif or someone, its because of you ****** that pakistan is what it is now,

this investment will be good to the economy and it will provide jobs to the people, you dnt have to be a shopper to benefit from it. duhhh

and my malfuction is meeting you, you retarded loser.

oye tameez say..sikhai nahin hay tumay kissi nay?

once again you fail miserably to understand the economic problems plaguing our nation...opening up a few Next outlets even if it is a pakistani company will not bring any large benefits..there will be some jobs for people but overall the economy will continue as is until there is a concerted effort to turnaround the agricultural sector, manufacturing and education...as long as we have moronic cheerleaders like yourselves jumping around like monkeys whenever the elite get an opportunity to indulge their wishes our nation will be going nowhere!!!...and your tameez is as I expected in the gutter you crawled out from..now go and crawl back before you get a classic chitroal..ask people who live in paksitan what the haalat are like before openeing your gob and enlighteneing us with your pearls of wisdom...seven star hotels, next,mcdonalds, abay who's gonna feed those hungry children who cant even buy a bag of onions? tum ya tumhari aulaad? mayeb you can go and send them some next vouchers to help em...

we need a social revolution in pakistan coupled with investment in agriculture and manufacturing not more luxuries like Next!!!..anyway havent you got a lecture to go to? try tameez 101!!

Good reply TGK, reminded me of my Dad Life is not a Bollywood movie, Next store or Gap, poor would suffer and more so because luxury goods increase inflation. Onion situation will only get worse. I remember buying 5 Kg of onion for Rs 5.00. Great choice of words, Khan, 'cheerleaders' indeed.

kon se tameez ke baat karte ho, your posts have shown a low level of mentality, just like what our past leaders have had, i dnt need tameez just to point that out.

tell me one reason, why has musharaff suceeded and people like nawa shirif, benezir who use to think like you failed?
answer is quite simple, cos economy has expanded and the main reason for that is the investment what has come in.

i might be jumping up and down like a monkey, but you surly have the mentality of a monkey, entrepreneurs are the backbones of the economy, just read my signature.
you should thank these business, without them you wouldnt have a job, you wouldnt have no money and you certainly wont have any food or shelter, they are responsible for fostering economys and bringing money into the country, you have no clue about economics.
businesses contribute nearly all the money what comes into a country is made by businesses.

people like you just have a low mentality to jump up and hit rich people on there heads cos your not one of them, rich people in pakistan are nothing, come to uk i will show you how real rich people live, middle class people in the west have more facilities then the rich in pakistan, the rich in pakistan is nothing.

you might go around and find alot of unhappy people in pakistan because they cant be part of these projects but its a timly process, it will trickle down from the rich to the poor, you cant expect the poor to get richer without having a proper upper class or you cant expect villages to develop before citys do, its basically common sense, you should atleast have that.

what we need in pakistan is to make an enterprise culture, were more businesses and enterpreneurs can develop, which will then go on to benefit the economy, these people boost the economy by bringing money into a country, encouraging entrepreneurship is one of the main things a goverment should do but pakistan has failed that in the past because they had leaders like you.

yes i will try tameez 101, but maybe you need an economy lecture and with that i'll suggest you getting a book on entrepreneurship and economy.

chill out guys.

hain?? i need an economic lesson?? the policies you advocate will lead us into a quagmire..it will make the rich richer and the poor poorer...real estate prices will go through the roof, commodity prices will increase and the poor will just continue to be downtrodden..you talk about enterprenuership, what use is this when we have no industrial base, corruption is endemic, and our imports are increasing year upon year..coupled with the fact that our literacy rate is increasing not falling...we need skilled labour, an increase in agricultural activity and a broadening of our manufacturing base...we cannot survive in a debt financed economy..our economy runs on agriculture..we need to concentrate on those aspects...having a ton of shops full of rich elite isnt going to help the economy in the long run...just read your history and see how other economies have gotten themselves out of a purely agricultural system...e.g. China, the middle class comes afterwards not before..you dont build a house by putting up the roof first...

and your comments about rich people betray your immaturity, and you insulting tone also betrays your level of education...for your information I know how rich people live, i especially know how they live in both pakistan and the UK...so dont assume you know anything about me...the rich cannot help our economy, empowering the working class to become the middle class is the way to go..the rich should be a by product of eventual economic growth not the driving force, since they are only concerned with lining their pockets...to succeed we must increase our exports especially in agriculture, this means massive reforms, land reform ,education reform,...simply looking for short term gains is leading us down the path to ruin...leaders like me? excuse me? i didnt know i was a leader..well good of you to acknowledge this..lol..idiot..benazir was corrupt and nawaz sharif was hampered by sanctions in his second term..he was also corrupt and stupid..

and finally your faith in mushy is misplaced..the reason he has evidentily succeeded is by recieveing massive financial aid from the US, and granted he has managed to increase growth but only for the short term..the long term is not looking good..unless we develope a strong base we will fail...and the rich will go to the centaurus for a coffee while the common man will look on and seethe until the rage becomes a revolution...and as for the economics lesson..save it..you need it more than I do..

Will Next do a localised range of clothes?

The Next Lungi, Banyan, Dhoti, Kurta, Khussa range. No chance will our 'modern' brethren delve in good old traditional clotheware.

does that even make one bit of sense, again i repeat please get some economic lessons, you have basically said the oppersite of should happen.

saying musharaf has succeded because of american aid, is just a joke, and a blantant excuss just to ignore the work he has done. the main reason for the boom in economy is the investments what have been made.
the polices what i say is what uk used in the 70s which had turned around the economy, so again you are wrong as it didnt lead uk into a quagmire, and instead middle class grew like never before, i can see the same thing happening in pakistan now, as jobs will be created middle class will start flourishing. just wait and watch till the wave hits pakistan, i garentee you in the next 10 years if it carrys on like this pakistan would have a large middle class and poverty would have been drivin down.

and keep saying that pakistans main base is agriculture, but thats not where the money is. you have to look into the future and go where the money is, a person working in a 5 star hotel or in a international retail outlet earns alot more then picking cotton off a field. the money is in the services sector and thats what pakistan should try and improve.

you dnt have a clue about how rich people live, otherwise you would have not given such comments, like i said come to uk and i will show you how real rich people live. my immaturity has nothing to do with it, infact you pointing that out after every sentance shows your immaturity.

rich can not help an economy is the biggest of the centry. dude do you even know why there is an economy?
if rich cant help an economy then no one can.

i never called you a leader, i just said you think the same as nawa shirif or benazir so no need to jump up and down. you just adopt the same policys as them which leaded pakistan to doom.


once again i repeat
ENTREPRENEURS ARE THE BACKBONE OF ECONOMYS WITHOUT THEM THERE IS NO ECONOMY.

like i said before i suggest you to get out a book on entrepreneurship and economy,

City without purpose




By Ayaz Amir

OR at least no purpose that rational man/woman can readily identify. Forty odd years after the fact no one has been able to satisfactorily explain why Pakistan’s one and only Field Marshal, Ayub Khan — victor of battles unknown to military history — laid the foundations of Islamabad.

As students we were told it was more central than Karachi, geographically safer, presumably from Indian attack. An argument which looks rather dated now that any kind of confrontation with India, warranted or unwarranted, seems to be the last thing on the minds of the new breed of generals dedicated more to such useful pursuits as real estate development than to anything as antiquated as war or national security.

In General Headquarters operational plans and maps may not have changed — after all, appearances have to be kept — but the ethos of things has. Our embattled or endangered frontier was always the Indian border, the army looking east and training its guns in that direction. Not any more. For the first time since 1947 — when Pakistan was born amidst darkness and confusion and Punjab’s rivers became red with blood — the army’s principal focus has shifted westwards.

Doing sentry duty for the United States along the Pak-Afghan border and garrisoning restive, mineral-rich Balochistan are its topmost priorities, next of course to the real estate mania gripping its higher echelons. Every piece of untouched or virgin land, be it next to Islamabad or Rawalpindi or as far away as Gwadar, and some enterprising soul, usually with impeccable defence credentials, is seized with the idea of turning it into another glittering resort.

Houses for the poor or even the middle class? Forget it. Farmhouses or mock-haciendas for the moneyed and tasteless is the new art form at which the country is excelling. There’s almost a race on to get ahead in the property business but, Allah be praised, defence housing authorities are beating all other comers.

This is not to forget property developers (developers?) from the Gulf who, thanks to their high-level connections, are also making sharp inroads into this business. Along Islamabad’s roads hang endless adverts about their plans. And in Karachi of course two entire islands have been given/sold by the federal government to their kind, over the feeble protests of the Sindh government which is murmuring disapproval, saying it wasn’t consulted. But who cares? Since when did the objections of the Sindh government count for anything?

Although it must be said that the Sindh chief minister, Arbab Ghulam Rahim, very much a child of the establishment (which high-rise politico in this dispensation is not?), stands up for Sindh when he has to.

He took an unequivocal position against the Kalabagh Dam which I am sure could not have endeared him to the powers-that-be at the centre. He does what he can to resist the MQM’s never-ending demands, co-existing with the MQM being among the toughest political acts to perform in Pakistan today.

And he somehow manages to avoid the kind of unabashed, no-holds-barred Musharraf flattery at which the Punjab chief minister, the honourable Pervaiz Elahi, has come to excel. Pervaiz Elahi’s signature tune these days is that Gen Musharraf, in the higher national interest, must be elected president-in-uniform not just once but over and over again. Better music for presidential ears would be hard to compose.

Arbab Rahim may have his faults but he is yet to soar to such heights. Which doesn’t mean he has been able to stop the ‘sale’ of the two islands. As for the fishermen being evicted from them, they are howling, but what do their protests matter?

Before I forget, a day or two ago there was an advert splash in most newspapers commemorating MQM Governor of Sindh Ishratul Abad’s four years in office. A four-page supplement (hopefully paid for) sang his praises and supposed accomplishments, almost making him into a super-hero.

We all know how Rahbar-i-Tehreek (Guide of the Movement) Altaf Hussain (whose friendship, God be praised, I can lay claim to) recently railed against ‘feudal’ tendencies in the MQM. Indeed, so strong were his feelings on this score that he announced his retirement from politics. For such well-wishers of the MQM as I, it was no small cause for thanks that this turned out to be a Maulana Fazlur Rehman announcement: announced and then indefinitely deferred.

What will the Rahbar make of the governor’s extended exercise in self-glorification? Even Chaudry Pervaiz Elahi, who in the last four years has conclusively proved he is behind no one in self-promotional adverts (some of them truly amazing), could not have done any better.

Consider also the case of the bright kid who is MQM Karachi Nazim. Every advert about something happening in Karachi comes under the bold headline: “The vision of City Nazim Mustafa Kemal”. Trying to upstage his betters, he must be out of his mind. Such tendencies in the Chinese communist party usually merited a long spell in a re-education camp.

But I started from Islamabad, always a shehr-i-bemaqsad — city without purpose — but now in the last four or five years the biggest monument to the screw-up theory of development. Other Pakistani cities have also been screwed up but none faster than Islamabad. The chairman or unelected mayor of the capital for the past few years seems to have a deep-seated hostility towards all things green. Green patches have never been dug up more mercilessly nor useless roads more assiduously built.

The result is not smoother traffic but gridlock and chaos. A badly-planned city to begin with (the Greek architects of Islamabad having a lot to answer for in this respect in the hereafter), Islamabad is now a showcase of civic mismanagement.

By the way, how many more years before the dug up side of the Islamabad highway from Rewat to the airport crossing is finally re-carpeted? It’s been like this for more than two years. Towards afternoon when trucks begin to move, huge traffic jams build up. But government worthies (what we call VVIPs) don’t travel on this road, preferring to fly out from the airport. So who cares?

On two of the many diversions on this longish stretch of road, the CDA (Capital Development Authority, more than its share of irony in this title) has stuck up this sign: “Thanks for patience and inconvenience”. Thanks for inconvenience: about sums up the story of Pakistan these days.

They have eased things in Delhi, the conversion to gas of most public vehicles taking care of much of the pollution which used to hang heavy over the city. An underground rail service, so far along a single axis, is a pointer to the future. Islamabad is moving backwards, creating anarchy and calling it development.

In Rawalpindi successive corps commanders have destroyed much of Saddar (once a beautiful, relaxed part of the city) turning it into a traffic nightmare, all by the simple expedient of laying an eight-lane autobahn (four on either side) through it. Has travelling been made easier? You should see this autobahn in the evenings.

Any focus on public transport in the broad spaces of the republic? You must be joking. Public transport has never been a priority and still isn’t. Railways are a shambles although the new railway minister, Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, another guy with a gift for self-publicity, keeps announcing new train services which are really old services under new names.

Recently he was bold enough to unveil a Buraq Express (Buraq being the legendary steed which flew across the heavens and carried the Prophet, peace be upon him, into the presence of the Almighty). On its first run the Buraq Express was five hours behind schedule.

Tailpiece: The real estate sector is proving a great spur to creative fiction. Prospective ‘developers’ buy land later, print exciting brochures first. Next to the second interchange on the Motorway as you travel from Islamabad to Lahore is Balkassar. Like every other piece of yet-to-be-bulldozed rural land, it is attracting the greed of property agents.

Beating everyone to the draw is a retired major-general hawking the delights of a vision on paper he chooses to call the ‘Islamabad Country Club’. Existing only in his imagination at the moment, the land advertised has no access to any road. But after reading the brochure you could be forgiven for thinking it was not of Balkassar the enterprising general was speaking but of the Swiss Alps.

The booklet, glossy and very expensive, is entertaining throughout but to give a taste of it here are the membership conditions, in the irreproachable English that graduates of the Pakistan Military Academy end up speaking if they are from an Urdu-medium background: “Following eligibility criteria is (sic) determined to provide opportunity to all including overseas Pakistanis to be part of this super scale (I jest not) prestigious community: parliamentarians, senior civil/military officials, district and tehsil nazims (God help us), overseas Pakistanis, industrial/corporate sector, professionals.”

When the rampaging mob in Julius Caesar, fired up by Mark Antony’s oratory, catches hold of one Cinna and he, pleading for his life, says he is not Cinna the conspirator but Cinna the poet, someone from the crowd shouts, “Hang him for his bad verses.” If only this principle could be applied on a larger scale.
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please comment on the above article...

you have also failed to answer the obvious questions...how do you propose the govt tackles inflation? the dieing agriculture industry? the hapless manufacturing sector? a large midle class in pakistan will just make the poor poorer...how will the poor be moved out of poverty? enterprenuership is all well and good when there are ideal checks and balances but our country doesnt have the organisation, or institutions to implement any form of capitalist revival..you speak of the 70's and 80's revival in the UK..you also forget the mid 80's crash and the recession in 1992 that followed thathers policies that are now widely ridiculed...the UK economy is a debt based economy that is running on massive amounts of personal debt...we cannot use that model..

we can also not use the indian model which empowers only one class of people while ignores the rest..their agriculture economy is going down the drain due to cheap imports and their poor are getting poorer...

you say that an increase in enterprenurship within pakistan will generate money and empower the common man..pray tell how the common villager will be raised out of poverty by servicing the rich?

my assertions are simple...increase efficiency in the agricultural industry by investing in new techniques and allowing our farmers the opportunity to earn a proper living..the ifrastructer can be improved quickly if proper attention is paid.intitate major land reform to help farmers increase agricultural output...we can begin to increase our exports if our agricultural techniques improve...secondly initiating major changes in our manufacturing industry which is nowhere is a must...

currently our our economy is based on short term fixes..simply opening up a few malls and shops wont help the common joe in the village...the answer is to improve our agricultural industry so that we can have a viable export market for the future...increasing our manufacturing base is also essential..sadly there is hardly any attention being paid to these issues...mushy is barking up the wrong tree..since you are an expert in economics explain how we will alleviate poverty in the villages and reduce inflation?

finally you keep on banging on about how the rich live in the uk and i should come here..meray bhai im already here and know exactly what goes on in this economy...like i said dont assume you know me...your sitting in the uk like me and making judgements about the situation from rose tinted spectacles..ask the man on the street what the situation is...67 ruppees for onions!!...its ridiculous...we need concrete realistic policies not sham image economics!!

Next gonna be ok cus they will use their surplus, out of season stock, the stuff they put in sales here in uk at xmas etc.


I reckon Primark would be a hit if in pakistan.. stuff from Primark is CHEAPER then stuff in pakistan eg. jumpers, shirts etc.

I'm being serious by the way.. (no jokes about cheapo shoping ok!!)

heres some more for you:



http://www.acdis.uiuc.edu/research/...ents/part3.html

Talking of Primark ---that business is raking it in...a flagship store has opened on Oxofrd Street.

I was looking at the site to the new Centaurus Residencia (sp) complex in Isbd that is due to open next year.

When I got back to UK and checked out how much apartments could cost, I was staggered to read it was £1.75 million UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a relative who lives 5 mins away from that site - and will get a great view of it from his living room who earns RS 9000/month!!!

so you are just going to post an article and that to out of everyone its Ayaz Amir the name says it all. LOL



and firstly let me tell you, the manufacturing sector in pakistan is flourishing, its growing at a pace like never before, so by saying its dieing shows you just talking out your @$$ without know the facts rising exports and opening of new huge industrial estates shows that, sunder industrial estate is an example and the new garment, textile citys, it citys etc. manufactering sector is rising to new heights and you are saying its dieing

as for inflation, like i have said many times before on this forum inflation happens when you start growing, the demand of products shot up slowly it would start coming down itself.

and again i repeat my comment earlier,
IF THERE ARE NO ENTREPRENEURS,THERE IS NO ECONOMY
IF THERE ARE NO ENTREPRENEURS, THERE ARE NO JOBS
IF THERE ARE NO ENTREPRENEURS, THERE IS NO MONEY
IF THERE ARE NO ENTREPRENEURS, THE WORLD WOULD END

simple as that, there is no argueing with it, you dnt even need to learn economics for it its common sense.

you asking how the villager would benfit from it, doesnt really make any sense. like i have pointed out before, you cant make building without its foundations, so first let the foundations be made and then the benefits will trickle down from upper to middle to lower class, right now pakistan must concentrate on building the upper class and middle class then when the foundations are made, we can complete the structure.

you seem to say UK is a debt ridin economy, but then all developed countrys are infact nearly all countrys in the world are.

i have seen both richs in pakistan and uk, and the rich in pakistan is no where near the rich in UK, its a joke to put them togeher, and you keep saying that the common man is not happy, but i have allready answered that,

pakistan like i said needs an enterprise culture, gov, needs to promote it to the youth, just like the rock culture in pakistan where every youngster dreams of making a band and holding a gutar, they need a culture like that where everyone will be interested in opening businesses, they need to promote entrepreneurship throught the media, and offer loans for them, then pakistan will witness a crazy boom in the economy,

Although in principal, i have no serious issues with next/Mc'donalds/kfc etc opening in Pakistan - I DO, however, have qualms with, the pakistani obsession with achieving "greatness" by means of the frivolous - the unneccessary. Imitating western consumerism is a like a drug for the rich and wealthy - I have no problem with imitating the west, I just wish we'd start by imitating them in way they run schools, hospitals and take care of the elderly. T

hen, we can start building all the Next and Gaps in the world...