We have been working on a China-Pakistan Fund which would bring Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Pakistan. This will enhance foreign reserves of Pakistan so it doesn’t have to go asking for loans from international institutions which put unnecessary restrictions on Pakistan. I have also been working with Chinese and Arab Gulf partners for affordable housing in Pakistan and promoting Pakistani agricultural products and food companies in China, the Middle East and Europe. We have been exploring for joint-venture (50-50 JV) partner for a Pakistan based mutual fund company with two of the top Chinese securities and mutual fund companies. Surprising we have found interest from many Pakistani banks and asset managers.
How did your philanthropic career start?
I had seven surgeries by the time I was ten years old at Jinnah Hospital Children Hospital, so my grandmother emphasized the need to help others worse off than yourself. In 2002 after 9-11 I helped finance the film “The Legacy of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)”- a documentary that was made to counter the racism and anti-Muslim hate that became more prominent after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. The documentary was released across America on PBS in 2002. It is still being used in American schools as teaching aid to teach about Islam.
I have been helping Pakistani and Muslim causes for over two decades in Europe, America and China. This goes from building Islamic Centers to Mosques across Europe and America. Since Islam is under attack in Europe we usually get requests for various legal and funding help and we try to help wherever we can. Our focus now is on building Islamic schools rather than mosques. We feel there are already enough mosques but not enough Islamic schools for Muslim children from K to 12th grade. Till now it has been done by friends, family and business partners. We are working on setting up a formal channel to work with sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and other institutes.
How was your experience in China?
The China experience was great. I lived and worked out of our offices in Shanghai and Beijing for many years since 1999 which was the first time I went to China. I still have a house in Pudong side of Shanghai, which I don’t want to let go because it has so many memories for me, including my parents visiting me and living with me there for a while after they retired in New York. My mother loved visiting and living in China for a while because as a young girl she met Chairman Mao when he visited Pakistan.
In China, I have been in almost all 1st Tier and 2nd Tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen are called 1st Tier cities. Nanjing, Tianjin, Chongqing, etc are called 2nd Tier cities).
We have offices in all 23 provinces of China, 4 municipals of China, 5 autonomous regions like Tibet and 2 Specially Administrative Regions like Hong Kong. These are 34 special areas or provinces of China. Over two decades I have traveled everywhere in China for business or opening new offices.
Some are not as advanced like Tibet or inner Magnolia; others are very advanced like Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen. These advanced cities of China make London or Paris or Dubai or NYC put to shame. In the early 2000s very few people spoke English in China. Although I had a full-time translator all the time with me, I learned to speak Mandarin Chinese from my secretary in Beijing and my driver in Shanghai.
Having over 20 years’ experience in China alone, I have had truly business relationships and connections with the senior Chinese leadership. Building relationships with Chinese government officials helps when you have gone to school in America with children of many Chinese leaders. This is important because everything in China is trust or relation-based and if you have relationships with senior officials, it means the Chinese trust you.
China is amazing. If you go to any major city in China after six months, you won’t recognize the skyline because there are new buildings. Believe it or not, there are more high-rises in the City of Shanghai than in all of America. No to mention, Chinese leaders have done amazing work getting over 500 million out of poverty in less than two decades. China is growing so fast that it is building 8 airports per year and, according to the World Economic Forum, in 2022 it will be the largest aviation market in the world. Compare this to the U.K. which couldn’t build even an extra runway at Heathrow for over 25 years.
This is why we were asked by Chairman and CEO of Qatar Airways to help them expand in China by getting them more landing rights at same airports and new landing rights in different Chinese cities. While Pakistan’s PIA helped start various Gulf airlines, Pakistanis didn’t focus on profit, quality or expanding because it was Government-run and got subsidies.
As China moves up the value chain, it focuses more on manufacturing semiconductors, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, etc., than garments or toys; low-end manufacturing is being moved by the Chinese Government to countries like Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and even India. We have been promoting Pakistan to Chinese companies and local governments that have a lot of say on how and where these companies relocate or move as they are stakeholders.
Do you have experience in the financial markets as well?
I started my first job as financial analyst for equities at a major asset management company in the U.S. In early 2000s I was sent to Hong Kong to run the Asia division of an American-European Fortune 500 financial services company. I was responsible for those markets in which the company had offices - in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, India, Thailand and the UAE.
I was the first Executive Director of one of the first fund management companies (FMC) ever established in China. When we acquired it in 2004, half the fund management company has over $100 billion in AuMs.
What is your experience in the Arab Gulf markets?
I have worked on several financial services, startups and joint-venture companies in the Gulf over the past decade. I worked for a large Fortune 500 financial services company to get a new licence and open new operations. We have helped Gulf companies who want to find foreign joint-ventures partners with European, Chinese and American companies and vise-versa, helping foreign companies find local partners in the Gulf. Most rewarding is helping startup companies in the Gulf or elsewhere because when you grow from zero to something, it is gratifying.
While working on a project for marble mines acquisition in Greece for use in the two Holy Mosques in Saudi Arabia, I wanted to see if Pakistani marble would be suitable and work as well. However, there was no one stop-shop in Pakistan to ask about the Pakistani marble. It was a cumbersome endeavour to even to get basic information from the Pakistan side. In the end we dropped it because of this fact. This is why the Pakistan Government should streamline information and investment opportunities for foreign investors. Pakistan ought to learn from how China has done and now other countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia are doing following China’s example. Once given the approval by the Chinese Government, everything happens quickly. For example, when we acquired the mutual fund company in China or increased registered capital in our insurance company there, everything happened within a couple of days. This included from getting licences to getting office space to getting approvals from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and State Administration for Foreign Exchange (SAFE) to get funds into the country to hiring employees in China to Chinese Government helping us to market and assist in sales. Pakistan can learn a lot from China on how to attract foreign investments.
In 2018, we helped the UAE’s firm to get €10 billion line of credit from Chinese public and private institutions at an extremely low rate of interest. After getting to know about the easy and cheap lines of credit from China, other Gulf countries became interested in similar credit lines with low interest rates. This is why I do not understand why Pakistan is paying such high interest rates on most of its dealings with China.
A few years ago, we looked at Oman Oil Company as an strategic investment partner, possible IPO (like ARAMCO), forward contracts to Asian refineries to lock-in rates per barrel, etc. However Oman decided to run its national oil company as it is now.
In the Middle East, I was behind the Qatar-Pakistan Food Expo which was held in Islamabad in mid-2018 in collaboration with the Qatari Commerce and Food Ministry for food security to facilitate Qatari importers. The Expo featured over 1000 Pakistani food companies and over 100 Qatari food companies. The Qatari Minister of Commerce came to Pakistan for a Conference on the occasion, along with a large Qatari food delegation.
A Qatar-Pakistan Food Expo was also organized in Doha, Qatar in early 2019 in which over 800 Pakistani food companies participated, including Fauji Foods.
As the Pakistan Government’s priority is to boost foreign investment (FDI) in the country, the expectation is that there will be more and better prospects for Qatari companies and investment houses in Pakistan. Reciprocally, Pakistani companies can set up their operations in Qatar for the Qatari market and perhaps for re-export markets from Qatar which has tariff free agreements with many countries in Europe and U.S.
I am helping to market Pakistani fruits (mangos), vegetables (onion, okra and other items) and organic honey to China.
I have also helped U.S. importers in streamlining Pakistani imports for sales of Pakistani mangos which requires standardization. I have been supporting Pakistani garment manufactures in exporting their products to Europe and the U.S.A.
Pakistan can’t count on a few items to export, which are low-end exports. The country needs to diversify its exports base and move toward producing and exporting higher-value added items. Of course this doesn’t happen immediately but this is where the Planning Ministry ought to focus. I know that the Chinese are interested in helping Pakistan in doing this. Pakistan should start by asking the Chinese to move the industry sectors they want to move from China to other countries. Pakistan should ask for preferential status. However, local Chinese governments have a lot of say in this due to labour markets and local governments invest in these businesses, factories, etc.
How have you helped Pakistan by utilizing your global contacts in the Covid-19 pandemic?
I have used my contacts and resources to provide support to the NDMA, the Pakistan Army and various Pakistan Government entities by supplying urgently needed ventilators. I donated over $500,000 worth of testing kits, N95, KN95, surgical masks, temperature control cameras, etc., to medical institutions of the Pakistan Government, the Pakistan Army and to various NGOs. The biggest problem was getting them shipped from Asia to Pakistan. In this the Pakistan Army helped us in a big way by transporting these donations on their planes from China to Pakistan.
What role can you play in setting up an Islamic TV Channel?
I believe that several countries are moving in this direction. I think that is what the Islamic World needs because the Muslims are presented in a negative light by the world and this image needs to be corrected in an effective manner. People need to learn facts about Islam and Muslims not what the French are trying to say what Islam is. Islam is a peaceful religion and an overwhelming majority of Muslims are peace-loving. Of course, like any other religion, there are some bad people, who tarnish the collective image of Muslims. A global TV Channel in the English language will reach the desired audiences. Later, other languages like Mandarin-Chinese, Russian, French, Arabic and even Hindi and Urdu could be added, like the U.S. Voice of America or Chinese CCTV are in various languages, to win the hearts and minds of people. You can call this soft power. With close to 2 billion people, the Muslim world is fighting amongst itself and even then Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world.
What is your educational background?
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