“When we talk about multinational and transnational companies, we usually mean the very large international companies. Sometimes, their turnover is larger than that of many countries. They are multi-headed monsters.

But then, there are many other companies with international linkages, too. Today, even quite small companies have business linkages with faraway lands,” says Dr Imtiaz Badshah, who recently completed his PhD in Norway and is a teacher at Nust in Islamabad.

“In my field of accounting and management, it is quite common for wealthy countries to outsource work to countries where the labour costs are lower,” Imtiaz explains.

Scandia System Pvt. Ltd is a Norwegian company with a small accounting firm in Pakistan with about 20 staff members, 10 women and 10 men. It is run by Pakistani-Norwegians who live in Oslo, and the company’s clients are in Norway, but their accounts work is done in Islamabad.

“In today’s world with modern communication technology, this works very well,” says Khalid Rashid in Rawalpindi, who is a graphic artist with experience from publishing in Pakistan.

“When I was the manager of Alhamra Publishing, we also carried out work for the European branch, based in Belgium. The graphic art work and typesetting were done in Pakistan, and also most of the printing,” Khalid explains.

“Printing costs are very reasonable in Pakistan, but the freight cost must be added when the market is in Europe. One must also not forget that the European market is very particular about the quality of the final product. There is also competition from excellent printers in Eastern Europe, in countries with lower labour costs than Western Europe, and they are closer to the market.”

“I have an automation company registered in Norway, AN Consult AS, but now I spend quite a bit of my time in Pakistan, and recently, also in South Korea, where we have a large contract,” says Syed Ayaz Naqvi, 46. He moved from a village near Multan to Norway as a 20-year-old man. He married an ethnic Norwegian, studied engineering in Oslo, and found a job there.

“I was not too choosy, so my first job was as a technician, lower than my qualifications as an engineer. The employer thought it was a bit strange. But I said I wanted the practical experience, and I got the job on the spot. A year later, I moved on to an engineering post in a major company in the field of automation and control systems for industrial plans,” Ayaz says.

“In 2006, I established my own company in the same field, and my first contract was with ABB, the company I was employed with over two decades ago. Recently, I entered into another contract with ABB, and one with Siemens.”

“My current major contract in South Korea is very important,” Ayaz says.

“I will spend the whole of June there, before I return to Islamabad briefly, and then on to Norway for a month. First, I will be in Oslo, where my company is based, and then for a week or so in Hammerfest in the far north of the country.”

“Norway is advanced in many engineering fields, especially areas related to the oil sector, fisheries and the environment,” Ayaz says, sitting with his daughter Nadia Aukrust, who has completed O-level exams at the International Grammar School and College in Islamabad.

“I haven’t decided yet if I will continue my studies in Islamabad or if I will go to Norway to take the International Baccalaureate (IB) exam.”

“I like science subjects, so maybe I, too, like my father, will take engineering. And my mother was also an engineer, but she passed away three years ago,” Nadia adds.

Her father says that there is good potential in engineering.

“In Pakistan, we can, for example, do a great service to people if we help local communities with water purification projects. Often, stagnant water just needs additional oxygen, and it becomes clean water. After the initial cost of a treatment plant, such projects will finance themselves,” Ayaz says.

“I will make it my ‘corporate social responsibility’ to start such a project as soon as I get time. That is the least I can do for my parents’ land of origin,” Ayaz Naqvi says.

“In future, many more companies will have transnational linkages,” says Mohsin Rafi from Rawalpindi, who just graduated with an engineering degree from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIK) at Topi in KP.

“With modern communication technologies it is given that we will be more international. I also believe that young people are more global in their thinking; they travel more, have Internet and Facebook friends anywhere in the world, and have an open eye for manufacturing and trade niches abroad.

I would find it exciting to be part of this new business world,” Mohsin says. He explains that his dissertation was about how to make semi-dry land useable for agriculture, using ‘super absorbent polymer’ items to store water for about three weeks.

“I cooperated with a company in Lahore for the study, Vital Agri Nutrients Ltd, which in turn has cooperation with an American company, where the technology is already in use. It is still too costly for Pakistan, but for certain expensive produce, I am sure it will come some years.

This is just an example of how global linkages and cooperation can expand the local and foreign companies and, in the end, benefit us all,” Mohsin Rafi says.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2014