THIS is in response to Rafi Ahmed’s letter ‘Business graduates and local companies’ (Jan 22) in which the writer mentions that Pakistani businessmen think only of amassing huge cut-throat profits and do not want to give anything back to their soil.

I do not fully agree with this statement because of some fine examples in Pakistan’s industrial and business history.

The BCCI of Agha Hasan Abidi contributed to establishing Fast National University, GIK Institute of Science and Technology, Sir Syed Engineering University, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases.

Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood, a successful industrialist, set up Orient Airways on the instruction of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, which was later re - branded as PIA.

Dawood College of Engineering and Technology was established by the Dawood industrial group in 1962.

These philanthropist foundations were mostly undermined after the nationalisation of their parent industries in 1973.

However, some new projects are still being created. Habib University, established by the Habib industrial group, is a fine example, providing higher education to promising students from all backgrounds.

The pace of philanthropy from the major industrial groups has been slowed down due to the country’s law-and-order situation and lower industrial growth for the past three decades. However, it should not be compared with the business community of other countries.

IRFAN HUSSAIN London

Opinion

Editorial

Business concerns
Updated 26 Apr, 2024

Business concerns

There is no doubt that these issues are impeding a positive business clime, which is required to boost private investment and economic growth.
Musical chairs
26 Apr, 2024

Musical chairs

THE petitioners are quite helpless. Yet again, they are being expected to wait while the bench supposed to hear...
Global arms race
26 Apr, 2024

Global arms race

THE figure is staggering. According to the annual report of Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace...
Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...