KARACHI, Aug 21: Has Pakistan's entrepreneur come of age?" We have now trained businessmen," says Dr Mubashir Hasan, the finance minister of the former socialist government of late Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto.

The corporate world exhibits renewed confidence in an improved "enabling environment" despite the quality of governance that leaves much to be desired.

And the security risk that refuses to go away has offered opportunities to local business executives to handle operations of multinationals. More MNCs are now being run by local business executives than ever before. The three leading foreign banks, which command a significant market share have Pakistanis as their country heads.

Many bankers who have served foreign outfits now run the nationalized banks and offer tough competition to the overseas peers in the domestic market. Major banks with enormous resources, updated skills and latest technology are in a position to serve the multinationals better than their competing foreign peers. Banking reforms have made them much better performers. In developed markets, they have jointly set up subsidiaries abroad. They do not depend heavily on core banking business. Smaller private banks are far more aggressive in the middle market.

Six years ago, says Shell Pakistan chairman Farooq Rahmatullah, he was the only Pakistani in his company posted abroad. Now, there are 52 Pakistanis in his firm exposed to global experience. They are strong advocates of globalization because of the confidence they have acquired in tackling global competition. Diverse entrepreneurial skills are no longer a monopoly of industrially advanced countries. The State Bank has relaxed rules for firms to set up businesses abroad. However, foreign firms have an edge over them because of enormous funds and technology. There is no lack of talents but lack of opportunities due to mismanagement of national economy over time.

Perhaps, local entrepreneurs have to slog harder. Business skills are needed to manage problems emerging from lack of social and infrastructural facilities, poor governance, weak rule of law, political instability and security concerns. Commercial contracts suffer because of weak judiciary. In developed stable societies, the enabling environment is far better.

Local business statesmanship has combined with global expertise of multinationals to produce a growing number of joint ventures whose prospects are growing because of a prolonged war of terror worldwide and travel advisories by the Americans, and the British in particular and the industrially advanced states in general.

Almost all leading advertizing firms have partnership with foreign firms run by local managers. Overseas partner brings business of multinational clients operating in Pakistan to their local joint ventures.

Here one example may be cited. After four decades of diverse experience, Orient Advertizing set up in 1953, entered into a joint venture with a company with worldwide operations. The new company was renamed as Orient McCann-Erickson. Like all Pakistani advertising firms, Orient managing director S.H. Hashmi has retained his position as managing director in the new firm. By and large, this is true for other industries particularly in joint ventures co-sponsored by Arabs in the financial sector.

But Hashmi is a rare breed. In addition to his professional job of helping multinationals and local firms market their products or improving their corporate image, Hashmi knows how to manage quarrelsome political rivals often accused of not recognizing merit. He has secured at least 16 awards from six presidents and prime ministers of Pakistan who could not tolerate each other- four awards from Ziaul Haq, two from Mohammad Khan Junejo, three from Benazir Bhutto, four from Nawaz Sharif and two from Farooq Ahmed Leghari. President Musharraf has honoured him with Sitara-i-Imtiaz Award 2004. He is also a recipient of several national and international awards in the past 50 years for his contribution to the advertizing industry.

Some ad agencies shun doing business with the government because of the hassles involved but Hashmi is not deterred from accepting the most difficult official assignments. After all, marketing corporate/ government image or managing political campaigns is a normal advertizing business the world over.