LAHORE, Oct 24: Pakistani entrepreneurs should focus on building their own brands instead of promoting trademarks of others.

“Blessed with material and manpower, what we lack is the spirit to work for ourselves, for our country,” maintains a Qatar-based expatriate, Rana Fawad, who was recently in town.

“Pakistan is a cotton growing country producing clothes and hosiery for renowned brands of the world. Same is the case with several other things. We continue working hard for others… What if we create our own brands, establish and market them while maintaining quality… I trust we will soon be able to get a major edge in the increasingly competitive global markets,” says Mr Fawad, the managing director of Qatar Lubrications (Qalco). Besides Qatar, the company distributes lubricants to 16 countries.

“India has started working on its brands abroad. We should also involve non-resident citizens besides the diplomats abroad for the purpose as soon as possible. At least our consulates and missions should have centres where Pakistani goods could be displayed,” suggests Mr Fawad who had left for Gulf state a decade or so after graduating from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore.

“Perception and not performance is the major challenge expatriates face abroad. Pakistanis, who are professionally sound, have to really work hard to reach and sustain a certain level abroad because of the perception that we are a backward state. It becomes quite difficult to defend Pakistan at times. Getting visa on a green passport is not so easy and it is very difficult for Pakistanis to promptly handle global assignments compared to other nationals.

“Incompetence is the biggest problem than corruption in Pakistan. Every country has varying levels of corruption but their people do know where to protect national interest. Furthermore, our state has not been forward thinking and lacks a vision. We have one of the best laws but are deficient in their implementation through independent regulatory authorities,” argues Mr Fawad who had been the elected joint secretary of the last students’ union of the then Government College, Lahore, before a ban was imposed.

“Use of backyard filtered oil is a crime against humanity. People involved in the business not only play with the lives of people but also destroy environment. One litre of used lubricant oil not disposed of properly in a scientific way can pollute one million litres of water. Unfortunately, my country has no mechanism to collect used oil. We here can physically test lubricants but we do not have the facility to examine it chemically. The government should involve (lubricants) marketing companies to educate masses about this hazard,” says Mr Fawad.